By: Grant Tighe
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - It was a team effort as No. 11 Concordia-St. Paul (27-2) defeated St. Cloud State (15-14) by a score of 76-60 in the quarterfinals of the NSIC Tournament. The Golden Bears advance to the program's 13th NSIC Semifinal appearance and the first since 2021-22.
Lindsey Becher and Lydia Haack led the way for CSP scoring-wise, each with 15 points. Becher shot 5-8 (62.5%) from the field and was one rebound short of a double-double with nine. The senior center added a career-high six assists while boasting her NSIC Defensive Player of the Year status with five blocked shots. Becher is now seventh all-time in total scoring in program history.
"I'm put in a position a lot on offense to dish out those passes," Becher said. "Especially in the high post with my guards cutting. I was getting my passes in there and my teammates were making their shots and they were getting in position to make the shots. I give them the credit for that and making those baskets."
Haack added five rebounds, four assists and a steal. She was 5-9 (55.5%) from the field and 4-4 (100%) from the free-throw line. Leah Dengerud scored 14 points with five rebounds, two assists and two steals. Julia Bengtson added 11 points, a team-high four steals and four rebounds.
The Golden Bears fell early, 7-2, as the Huskies made three of their first four shots. After that, CSP went on a 9-2 run led by Haack driving through a 2-3 zone for six points. The Golden Bears extended that run to 27-8 by the end of the quarter capped off by an Ashley Schuelke step-back buzzer-beating 3-pointer to lead 29-15.
Concordia-St. Paul started the second quarter on an 8-2 run, with Becher scoring six of the eight points. CSP ended up outsourcing the Huskies 14-9 in the quarter with 12 of the points coming in the paint.
"In that first half we were really playing off of our defense," Becher said "We were getting stops, being aggressive and taking them out of their systematic offense. Our offense comes from our defense. We were turning it on and getting good shots."
Haack returned from first-half foul trouble, scoring nine of CSP's 23 third-quarter points. CSP kept pace with the Huskies, outscoring them 23-20 while shooting 7-12 (58.3%) from the field and 8-10 (80%) from the charity stripe. CSP held SCSU to 5-15 (33.3%) from the field in the fourth quarter to secure the victory.
The Huskies finished the game shooting 21-59 (35.6%) from the field and 4-16 (25%) from behind the arc. The Golden Bears tallied eight steals and forced St. Cloud State to turn the ball over 16 times. CSP also blocked eight shots as a team.
"Our biggest thing was stressing our defense this game," said head coach Amanda Johnson said. "We'll hold teams to 60 points a game and that's what we did this game. Lindsey had five blocks and that's what she does. She's in there blocking shots and helping the guards. We really stress that defense translates to our offense"
Schuelke came off the bench and scored seven points with an assist and a steal. Megan Gamble added six points, two rebounds and a block. Lauren Wilson and Mikayla Kanenwisher each scored three points while Emma Mommsen had a putback bucket.
The Golden Bears shot 28-56 (50%) from the field, 5-11 (45.5%) from behind the arc and 15-19 (78.9%) from the free-throw line. This is the best percentage CSP has shot since Feb. 1 against Minnesota Duluth (55.9%) and the team's fourth-highest percentage this season.
St. Cloud State was led by Jada Eggebrecht with 13 points. Alana Zarneke added 10 points. Kristi Kottke came off the bench and scored eight points with a team-high five rebounds.
CSP outscored SCSU 42-28 in the paint, 16-4 off of turnovers and 14-8 on fastbreaks. The Golden Bears led for 35:13 with their largest lead being 25 points in the third quarter.
The Golden Bears have won 14 straight games, the longest streak of any team in the NSIC. This is the fourth-longest winning streak in program history and the Golden Bears have an opportunity to tie 2012-13's 15-game win streak on Monday. The Golden Bears have now evened the all-time series against SCSU, 21-21.
Concordia-St. Paul will seek its first NSIC Championship appearance since 2013-14 in the semifinal matchup against either Sioux Falls (S.D.) (17-13) or Northern State (S.D.) (18-10). The Cougars and Wolves play on Sunday at 11 a.m. CSP will play the winner in the semifinals on Monday at 11 a.m.
"I told the girls in the locker room that they have worked so hard to be here and hopefully to advance," Johnson said. "But again it's not going to come easy with the teams that are here. They are all good teams in our conference. I'm excited to get a day off tomorrow and get back here on Monday."