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MOORHEAD, Minn. (1/21/13)—Concordia overcame 21 turnovers to record a 69-62 win over No.12-ranked St. Thomas on Monday. The Cobbers outscored the Tommies 38-28 in the second half to earn the seven-point win and tie UST atop the MIAC standings.

Concordia used a balanced scoring attack to post their second straight win over a team in the No.1 position in the conference standings. The Cobbers bettered previous No.1 Gustavus 50-49 on Saturday. CC has now won nine of their past 10 games and is 12-4 overall and 11-2 in league play.

St. Thomas, who started the year by going 11-1, loses for the second time in the past four games and is now 13-3 in all games and 11-2 in the MIAC.

The Cobbers struggled with the Tommies full-court pressure throughout the game. "Their press was to get us to play in a hurry," said Concordia head coach Jessica Rahman. "We made an adjustment to take care of the basketball and if we didn't have an advantage in transition then we needed to set up and run some offense."


Audio interview from head coach Jessica Rahman



Concordia had eight different players score in the second half alone and had a variety of players step up in critical times of the game. Tricia Sorensen shook off a head injury to record 15 points and grab six rebounds in the second period of play. Sorensen, who was recovering from concussion-like symptoms she suffered against Hamline on Jan. 12, went 6-for-10 in the final 20 minutes of play and scored four of the team's final six points in the game.

Sophomore guard Alley Fisher connected on crucial free throws down the stretch and came away with 12 points. She finished the game by going 7-for-8 from the foul line.

In addition to the 15 points from Sorensen and 12 from Fisher, Concordia had three other players factor in double figures in scoring. Center Alexandra Lippert was 4-for-7 from the floor and had 11 points and five rebounds. Erika Jossart and Emily Thesing had 10 points each as they carried the Cobbers at certain stretches of the game. Thesing also had six rebounds and five assists. Jossart added two assists and two steals.

Another key for Concordia was limiting the Tommies potent offensive attack to just 28 points in the second half. The CC defense held St. Thomas to 33.3% (11-for-33) shooting from the floor and 11.1% (1-for-9) from 3-point range in the final period.

Rahman discussed the changes made at halftime by saying, "We talked a little bit more about specific adjustments with our zone to cover some of their shooters."

Concordia finished the game by shooting 47.8% (22-for-46) from the field and 33.3% (3-for-9) from outside the arc. The Cobbers cemented the game at the free throw line where they went 22-for-29 (75.9%).

The Cobbers will now hit the road for a midweek game against Carleton on Wednesday, Jan. 23 before returning home to host Augsburg on Saturday, Jan. 26 at 1 p.m.