Defensive And Size Equals Third Win In Five Days

MOORHEAD, Minn. (1/11/14)—Defense and size helped Concordia cruise past St. Catherine 70-38 on Saturday. The Cobbers used its best defensive effort of the season and got over 50-percent of their scoring from inside players to record their third win in the last five days.

Concordia limited the Wildcats to a mere 27.3% (6-for-22) shooting clip in the second half and held a decided 42-14 advantage in points in the paint in picking up its ninth overall win of the season. CC is now 9-3 on the year and 7-2 in conference play. St. Catherine drops its sixth straight game. After starting the season at 2-2, SCU is now 2-8 overall and 1-g against league opponents.

It took Concordia until midway through the first half to get their offense train on the tracks. The Cobbers went 5-for-16 (31.2%) from the floor and committed six turnovers in the first 10 minutes of play. CC was going back-and-forth with the Wildcats and clung to a one-point lead 13-12. Concordia then proceeded to go on a 11-2 run to snatch a 10-point lead at 24-14. The Cobbers would shoot 66.7% (8-for-12) in the final 10 minutes of the opening period to gram a commanding 17-point lead heading into the break.

Concordia would have had to score only two points in the second half to actually come away with a win as the defense took center stage in the final 20 minutes of the game. The Cobbers forced 15 turnovers in the second half and held St. Catherine without a field goal for the first 10:16 of the period.

The Cobbers' inside game was also causing havoc for the Wildcats. CC's interior players scored 20 of the team's 32 points in the second half and helped Concordia outrebound St. Catherine 26-17 in the period.

For the second straight game Erin Januschka came off the bench to lead all Concordia players in scoring. The junior forward went 5-for-7 from the floor and finished with a game-high 13 points. This came on the heels of an 18-point game in Wednesday's win at Carleton. Januschka also had six rebounds and two steals and was the only CC player to score in double figures.

Fellow "bigs" Alexandra Lippert, Olivia Johnson, Megan Olson and Kelsey Walloch combined for 23 points and 19 rebounds. Johnson had eight points while Olson came away with a game-high seven rebounds.

The Cobber backcourt crew was led by Erika Jossart and Alley Fisher. Both players finished with seven points. Jossart also had four rebounds and Fisher put up a game-high three assists.

Concordia will continue its January conference trek when they play at St. Ben's on Wednesday, January 15 at 7:30 p.m.