By: by Patrick Rydeen

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SEARCY, Ark. – The seventh seed Concordia University women's basketball team (27-8) advances to the NCAA Central Region Championship with an 85-60 win over third seed #8 Central Missouri (26-5) on Saturday night.
 
The Golden Bears will take on top seed #7 Emporia State (30-3) Monday night at 7:00 p.m. for a spot in the Elite Eight in Erie, Penn. Concordia is 0-2 all-time against the Hornets, including a 71-52 loss back on November 11th in Anaheim. Amber Vandiver led ESU with 18 points and 10 boards while Whiting had 19 points for CU in the game.
 
Tonight, Concordia connected on 48% (29-60) of their shots and held Central Missouri to 31.% (22-71). CU also capitalized on mistakes, outscoring UCM 19-7 in points off of turnovers. The 25 point margin of victory was the team's second largest of the season as they were in control nearly from start to finish.

When asked about his team's performance, coach Paul Fessler said, "That might be the best we've played all year. I hope we have one more. Central Missouri is a great team, but unfortunately for them it was our night."


One night after scoring a season-low three points, junior Anika Whiting set a new career high with 32 points. She shot 12-19 and grabbed seven boards to pace CU in her second 30 point outburst on the year.

Rachel Hansen also had a big night as she had a season-high 22 points on an efficient 7-10 shooting and a perfect 8-8 from the charity stripe. She chipped in nine rebounds and four assists.

Ameshia Kearney scored in double figures for the eighth consecutive game as she added 12 points, five assists and four rebounds.

Kionda Nicks continued to contribute in other ways than through scoring as she gave the Golden Bears nine boards, six assists, two blocks and two steals to go along with her four points.

All-Central Region First Team performer Keuna Flax led the Jennies with 18 points despite hitting just 7-21 from the floor. She completed the double-double by pulling down 11 rebounds.
 
It was all Golden Bears in the opening 20 minutes as the Jennies could do nothing to slow down Whiting. She hit 8-12 from the floor, 2-2 from three and 6-6 from the line to finish the half with 24 points, one short of the Jennies first half total of 25 as a team. Whiting, who set the single season school record this year, was nearly unstoppable down low and scored with an array of shots from all over the floor.
 
Central Missouri did jump out to an early 13-9 lead, but it was short lived. The Golden Bears responded with a 12-0 run to gain a 21-13 advantage. UCM closed the gap to five at 25-20 with 9:12 to go in the half, but a 16-3 run in favor of CU spanning up until the final moments of the half put the Golden Bears in control. The Jennies picked up a bucket to close the half and head into the break trailing 41-25.
 
CU shot 45% from the floor and 5-8 from three compared to just 30% and 1-8 from three for UCM in the half. The Golden Bears also had a 23-17 edge in rebounds and 10-4 advantage in assists before the break.
 
The second half was much of the same as the lead stretched out to as much as 36 with 7:22 to play in the game. The Jennies slowed down Whiting in the second half, but couldn't contain Rachel Hansen as she scored 18 of her 22 points after the break. The Golden Bears were even better after the break as they hit 51.7% of their shots from the floor and they assisted on nine of their 15 baskets. They also did some damage at the free throw line by going 12-16 in the final 20 minutes.

Concordia advances to the Sweet 16 for the third time in school history. They fell to St, Cloud State 81-70 in 2005 and to Fort Lewis 73-64 in 2010. One more win would push the Golden Bears to the Elite Eight for the first time ever. CU is 9-9 overall in their 10 trips to the NCAA Tournament.