By: Grant Tighe

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - Lindsey Becher scored a season-high 25 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in No. 10 Concordia-St. Paul's (29-2) NSIC Tournament Championship victory over Minnesota State (24-7). The Golden Bears outscored the Mavericks 47-32 in the second half to pick up the 92-73 victory.

Becher was named NSIC Tournament MVP for her efforts. This marked her sixth double-double of the season and 14th of her career. She shot 9-12 (75%) from the field and 7-8 (87.5%) from the charity stripe. Becher added five assists and four blocks. She averaged 4.33 assists and five blocks in the three NSIC Tournament games.

"It's a huge honor," Becher said on winning MVP. "It's amazing after five years to win this award. It's such a big honor. It's a really great way to end the tournament and the NSIC season."

Head coach Amanda Johnson added to what it means for Becher to win Tournament MVP.

"Lindsey's been here five years," Johnson said. "She's gone through a lot. She hurt her knee and she's battled a lot of different things. If anybody deserves this it's her. She's a special kid … she's put in the time and the work. Hard work pays off and she won a championship."

Lydia Haack earned All-NSIC Tournament Team as she scored 15 points and dished out eight assists. She also stole the ball three times. Lauren Wilson earned All-NSIC Tournament Team after scoring 16 points with a career-high 12 rebounds. This was Wilson's first double-double of the season and third of her career. 

This is the program's fifth NSIC Tournament Championship and the first since 2014. The Golden Bears are now 5-3 all-time in NSIC Tournament Championship games. This is the third time in program history the Golden Bears have won both the NSIC Regular Season and NSIC Tournament (2006-07 and 2007-08). 

The Golden Bears shot 31-59 (52.5%) from the field while holding Minnesota State to 24-71 (33.8%). CSP was 24-27 (88.9%) from the charity stripe, making their second most in a game this season. 

After leading 51-49 in the third quarter, the Golden Bears went on an 18-4 run to lead 69-53 at the end of the third quarter. Ashley Schuelke drilled a 3-pointer to take a 64-53 lead and Mikayla Kanenwisher capped off the quarter with a 3-pointer of her own. 

The Golden Bears outscored Minnesota State 24-12 in the third quarter and 23-20 in the fourth quarter. Both teams were even on turnovers in the second half with 10. Schuelke and Becher each scored 10 points in the second half. 

"The start of that third quarter was huge," Johnson said. "That's when Minnesota State can jump on teams. Coming out with that third quarter we talked about playing defense and I think that was huge for us. With Minnesota State you have to play all 40 minutes, you can't take one quarter off."

Becher started the game strong with a 7-0 run of her own to take an early lead. After that, the Mavericks went on a 9-0 run to take their first lead and outscored CSP 17-4 over a 4:05 period. 

The Golden Bears didn't let that run last, going on a 6-0 run to tie the game at 19-19. Wilson, Haack and Julia Bengtson each scored during that run. Minnesota State's Elisabeth Gadient hit a buzzer-beating layup to give the Mavericks a 21-19 advantage in the opening period. 

The second quarter was back-and-forth until CSP went on an 8-0 run to take a 38-32 lead. Bengtson hit two key 3-pointers in the period and the Golden Bears were 8-13 (61.5%) from the field. The Mavericks shot 4-16 (25%) in the second quarter, but kept up with the Golden Bears via free throws going 10-10 (100%) from the charity stripe. CSP led 45-41 at halftime. 

Schuelke finished with 12 points shooting 4-7 (57.1%) from the field and 2-3 (66.7%) from behind the arc. She added three assists and three steals. Leah Dengerud scored nine points while making five free throws. 

Bengtson tallied eight points with two assists and two steals. She also made a team-high two 3-pointers. Megan Gamble added four points, eight rebounds and four assists. 

The Mavericks were led by Natalie Bremer with 10 points. She earned an All-NSIC Tournament Team selection. Ava Stier was also named to the All-Tournament team. She scored four points and grabbed six rebounds. 

The Golden Bears outscored Minnesota State 40-30 in the paint. Concordia outrebounded the Mavericks 46-34. CSP committed 25 turnovers, but settled down after committing 15 in the first half. 

The 92 points is the second-most CSP has scored in a game this season. The Golden Bears finished with 25 assists as a team while MSU only had 15. 

Becher now moves into sixth in all-time career scoring with 1,479 career points. She passed Lisa Harfield (2001-05) and Deb Harms (1983-87) with Tuesday's performance. Her season-high performance on Tuesday surpassed her 24-point game to clinch the NSIC Regular Season Championship against Minnesota Crookston. 

Johnson picks up her first NSIC Tournament win in her 10 years coaching the Golden Bears. She moves to 8-9 in her career in the NSIC Tournament and has a 170-97 career record. 

CSP's 16-straight wins ties 2003-04 for the third-most in program history. With two more wins, the Golden Bears can tie 2007-08 and 1976-77 for the longest win streaks. 

With this win, Concordia-St. Paul has achieved the most wins in a season in program history at 29. This surpasses 2003-04, 2007-08 and 2013-14 all with 28 wins. The 2013-14 team made the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament. 

The Golden Bears have now clinched an automatic bid in the NCAA Central Region Tournament. Concordia-St. Paul's seed and opponent in the tournament will be revealed on Sunday, March 9 at 9:30 p.m. The Central Region Tournament takes place March 14-17. 

"This group deserves it," Johnson said. "They just play team basketball and team basketball is going to give you that chemistry on-and-off the court. It's just all around a good group. If there's a team to win it out of all the years I'm coaching, they deserve it."

 

 

2025 NSIC All-Tournament Team
#	Name	Pos.	Ht.	Yr.	School	Hometown
11	Lindsey Becher*	C	6-1	Sr.	CSP	Shoreview, Minn.
23	Lydia Haack	G	5-3	Jr.	CSP	Elk River, Minn.
30	Lauren Wilson	F	6-0	So.	CSP	Springville, Iowa
5	Natalie Bremer	G	5-11	Jr.	MSU	Lake City, Minn.
33	Ava Stier	F	5-11	Jr.	MSU	Waconia, Minn.
						*MVP