An MIAC Title, 1000 Points And 500 Rebounds!

MOORHEAD, Minn. (2/13/13)—It was a night of milestones for Concordia but the biggest story came from the Cobbers clinching their first MIAC regular-season title since the 1989-90 season.

Concordia never trailed against St. Kate's and rolled to an 80-46 win. The victory helps the Cobbers clinch at least a share of the conference regular-season championship and the No.1 seed in the upcoming MIAC postseason tournament.

"It's so exciting," said Cobber head coach Jessica Rahman. "It's such an elusive thing to get and it is so difficult. It's been a long time coming and the kids have worked really hard and I can't be more proud of the accomplishment."   


Postgame audio interview with head coach Jessica Rahman (3:22)



The other milestones on the night came from senior Tricia Sorensen and junior Alexandra Lippert. Sorensen drained a 3-point basket with 4:46 left in the first half to become the 25^th player in program history to reach the 1000-point mark for a career. She is also the 10^th athlete in school history to score 1000 points and grab 500 rebounds. Sorensen was one of four Cobber starters to finish in double figures in scoring. She came away with 12 points and six rebounds and now has 1,007 career points and 529 career rebounds.

"I just wanted to not be thinking about it anymore," said Sorensen. "It (the record) was on my mind but I tried to play like it was just a normal game."


Postgame audio interview with Tricia Sorensen (2:12)

 

The other individual achievement belonged to Lippert who became the 16^th player in program history to reach the 500-rebound mark. Lippert six rebounds and 13 points and upped her career rebound total to 504.

The game against St. Kate's was never in doubt after the midway point of the first half. Concordia went on a 14-0 run starting at the 17:36 mark of the opening period and sprinted out to a 15-point lead to leave no doubt about clinching the title at home.

The Cobbers took an 18-point lead into the break and then built it to as many as 41 before winning by 34.

Concordia shot an even 50.0% (31-for-62) from the floor and 38.9% (7-for-18) from 3-point range. On the other side of the court, the CC defense limited the Wildcats to just 29.8% (17-for-57) shooting from the field and 18.5% (5-for-27) from outside the arc. The Cobbers also forced 16 turnovers. The other big advantage came around the basket where Concordia outrebounded St. Kate's by 17 and had a 34-18 edge in points in the paint.

In addition to the double-digit scoring totals from Sorensen and Lippert, Erika Jossart and Alley Fisher also scored more than 10 points. The quartet led 11 players that factored on the score sheet. Jossart was 6-for-8 from the floor and tied Lippert for game-high honors at 13. She also added six rebounds and a season-high eight assists. Fisher started the Concordia scoring parade when she scored the team's first eight points of the game including a pair of clutch 3-point baskets. Emily Thesing led all players with seven rebounds. She also had five assists, four points and three steals. Thesing also provided one of the most spontaneously off-the-wall moments of the year when she hugged Sorensen after Sorensen had made her 1,000^th point despite the play still continuing on.

"I was definitely a little surprised," recall Sorensen. "She attacked me and I just said 'Emily, we have to get back and play defense.' And she was like 'I don't care.'"      

Concordia will now try and win the regular-season title outright when they host Gustavus on Saturday, Feb. 13 at 1 p.m. The Cobbers will then have a break until Thursday, Feb. 21 when they will host one of the two semifinal games in the conference tournament.