Finally Feeling At Home In St. Peter

ST. PETER, Minn.  (12/07/13)—An eye-opening road performance on the road helped Concordia roll over Gustavus 70-47 and remain perfect in conference play.  

The win is the second straight on the road at Gustavus for Concordia after losing six of the previous seven in St. Peter. The 23-point margin of victory is the largest win at Gustavus since the 2000-01 season.

The Cobbers have now won three straight games and move to 4-1 on the season. CC is 2-0 in league play. Gustavus loses for the first time in the season. The Gusties were 4-0 coming into the game and fall to 4-1 and 1-1 in the MIAC.

The game was won in the five minutes before and after halftime. The score was tied for the fifth time in the game at 20-20 with 5:41 left in the first half. The first 14 minutes of the game featured seven lead changes until Concordia made its decisive run. The Cobbers finished off the opening period of play by scoring 13 of the final 18 points of the half. The key to the run was tough defense and good outside shooting. CC hit on a trio of 3-point shots during the final five minutes, forced three turnovers and held the Gusties to 2-for-7 shooting from the floor.

The second half started with Concordia connecting on a lay-up from Alley Fisher. After a mini Gustie rally, the Cobbers stretched the lead to 19 points with just over 13 minutes to play. CC was able to build as much as a 29-point lead before settling for the 70-47 win.

Concordia's pressure defense once again forced 20-plus turnovers in the game. The Cobbers made Gustavus cough the ball up 20 times and have now had all five opponents this season record at least 20 turnovers. CC's full-court pressure has forced 109 miscues while the Cobber offense has only turned it over 69 times.

Fisher led the team in scoring with 12 points but it was two other players who had huge games. Sophomore Olivia Johnson recorded her first collegiate double-double. She came away with 10 points and a game-high 10 rebounds. Senior center Alexandra Lippert had a stat stuffer game. She finished with 11 points, nine rebounds and a season-high five blocks. Lippert upped her season block total to 17 which currently leads the MIAC.

Freshman guard Greta Walsh had a game-high four assists, went 2-for-4 from 3-point range and finished with eight points.

Concordia held a 45-34 edge in rebounding. The Cobbers shot 38.2% (21-for-55) from the floor for the game and went 6-for-13 (46.2%) from outside the arc. Gustavus shot 30.9% (17-for-55) from the field and 25.0% (2-for-8) from 3-point range.

The biggest shooting advantage came at the free throw line where Concordia's defense and inside game helped the Cobbers get to the line 29 times as compared to only 16 for Gustavus. CC was 22-for-29 (75.9%) from the foul stripe while GAC shot 68.8% (11-for-16).

Concordia will look to keep their unblemished conference record intact when they play at Bethel on Monday, Dec. 9 at 5:45 p.m.