Lippert's Career High Leads To Win In Home Opener

MOORHEAD, Minn. (11/27/13)—Pressure defense and Alexandra Lippert were too much for UM-Morris in Concordia's 75-41 win over the Cougars. The Cobbers forced 24 turnovers and Lippert came away with a career-high 22 points in the team's second win of the season.

Concordia (2-1) led from wire-to-wire as they scored the first 17 points in the game and built a 17-0 lead. UM-Morris finally got on the board with 11:38 left to play in the first half. After a mini Cougar run, CC built the lead to 25 points with a little less than six minutes left in the first period. The Cobbers would take a 35-21 lead into the break and then push the lead to over 30 points with 8:03 left in the second half.

The Cobbers held UM-Morris to just 28.6% (6-for-21) shooting in the first half. Concordia's pressure defense forced 16 turnovers in the first 20 minutes of play and didn't allow a single 3-point basket. Morris went 0-for-7 from outside the arc.

On the offensive end, the Cobbers were able to get the ball inside early on which set up their outside shooting later in the half. Concordia shot 36.8% (14-for-38) from the floor in the decisive opening period and did that almost two percentage points better connecting on 38.5% (5-for-13) of their attempts from 3-point range.

Lippert was an equal opportunity scorer in each half. She had 11 points in each period of play. Lippert went 4-for-7 from the floor in the first half and then 6-for-8 in the second period. In addition to her career-high 22 points, she also added four rebounds and four blocked shots.

Junior guard Alley Fisher was the only other Concordia player in double figures in scoring. Fisher finished the game by going 2-for-5 from long range and collecting 12 points.

A pair of freshmen had impact performances for the Cobbers. Point guard Greta Walsh, who was named to the Buffalo State Invite All-Tournament Team, had a game highs in assists (7) and steals (4). Megan Olson came off the bench to grab a team-high five rebounds. Katie Rosenfeldt matched Olson's rebound total while senior Erika Jossart had eight points and four assists.

UM-Morris (1-2) wound up shooting 28.6% in both halves and was 14-for-49 from the floor for the game. The Cougars shot 6.7% (1-for-15) from outside the arc and were led in scoring by Emily Auch who had 11 points.

Concordia outrebounded the Cougars 43-31 and held a decided 42-22 advantage in points in the paint. The Cobbers' ability to force 24 Morris miscues led to a 25-13 edge in points off of turnovers.

The Cobbers will have a short break for the Thanksgiving holiday and then open play in the MIAC when they play at Macalester on Wednesday, Dec. 4 at 5:45 p.m.