Box Score ST. PAUL, Minn. -- The Minnesota State University Moorhead women's basketball took a four-point lead into halftime, but Concordia-St. Paul rallied in the second half to earn a 76-70 win over the Dragons in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference action Friday night in St. Paul, Minn.
Concordia-St. Paul improved to 8-4 overall and 6-2 in the NSIC with the win, while MSUM fell to 7-5 overall and 4-4 in the league.
Junior
Megan Strese led the Dragons with 23 points, tying a career-high. She was 10-of-19 from the field and also added a team-high nine rebounds. Junior
Morgan Zabel continued her excellent play with 15 points and four assists off the bench. Senior
Marisa Yernatich added 14 points, eight rebounds and three assists, while junior
Haley Thomforde had seven assists.
The game was even statistically for the most part. MSUM shot 39.3 percent (24-of-61) compared to 39.7 percent (27-of-68) for the Golden Bears. CSP held a slight 40-39 edge in rebounds and in turnovers (10, compared to 11 for MSUM).
After trailing by as many as nine in the second half, MSUM climbed within 62-61 with 4:38 left after senior
Kaycee Charette converted a layup. Concordia led 69-65 with 1:57 left, but a Strese layup brought the Dragons within two (69-67) with 1:44 left.
However, after the Golden Bears got an offensive rebound, Carissa Wolyniec drained a three-point to push the Concordia lead to 72-67 with 1:13 left. The lead grew to seven with a pair of free throws before Yernatich drained a three-pointer with 11 seconds left to cut the lead to 74-70. The Dragons got no closer as Wolyniec hit a pair of free throws with eight seconds left to push the lead to 76-70, which was the final count.
The Dragons opened on an 11-6 run over the first 5:36, thanks to six points from Strese and a three-pointer by Charette. Concordia came back to tie the game at 25-25 late in the half before the Dragons finished strong and took a 31-27 lead into the halftime break.
Concordia-St. Paul outscored the Dragons 49-39 in the decisive second half.
MSUM plays at No. 24-ranked Minnesota State, Mankato on Saturday for a 4 p.m. contest.
Steve d'Eustachio Stat of the Game: Since Paul Fessler took over as Concordia St. Paul's Head Coach in 2000, the Dragons have beaten the Golden Bears eight times in NSIC league games. Only two teams have more conference victories during this period (Wayne State with 13, and Northern State with 11).
