Late-Game Rally Falls Inches Short

ST. PAUL, Minn. (2/08/17)--- Concordia's 7-point comeback in the final two minutes of play fell inches short and the Cobbers fell 63-61 at St. Catherine.

Concordia rallied from a 61-54 deficit with 1:40 to play in the fourth quarter and tied the game at 61-61 on a layup by Jamie Mentzer with 27-seconds left to play. The Wildcats then called timeout and on the next possession came up with the game-winning basket with only five ticks of the clock remaining. CC had a final chance to tie, or win the game, but a jumper from inside the paint rattled off the rim and the Cobbers lost by two.

The loss stops a one-game win streak for Concordia and moves their overall record to 7-15 on the year. CC is now 4-11 in the MIAC. St. Catherine wins for the third time in the past four games and is now 14-8 in all games and 8-7 in league play. SCU is in fifth place as they make a bid for one of the spots in the six-team MIAC playoffs.

Concordia led after one quarter 18-16 after shooting 53.8% (7-for-13) from the field. St. Catherine tied the game at 22-22 with 5:09 left in the first half and then the teams traded leads for the final minutes of play with the score being tied on four different occasions and the lead changing hands three times. The Wildcats finally took the lead at the break when they connected on a pair of free throws with just over 1-minute to play in the period.

The Wildcats led for the entire third quarter but Concordia made it close with a 5-0 run at the back end of the period and trailed 45-44 heading into the fourth quarter.

Once again St. Catherine was able to gain an lead early in the quarter but that set the stage for the Cobbers' late-game 7-point comeback.

The game featured 10 different tie scores and the lead changed hands on five occasions.

Concordia finished the game by shooting 35.8% (19-for-53) from the floor and were done in by a cold shooting touch from the outside as they connected on 14.3% (2-for-14) of their shots from 3-point range. CC made up for their long-range shooting by going 21-for-25 (84.0%) at the free throw line.

The Wildcats made 48.1% (25-for-52) of their shots from the floor and 50.0% (6-for-12) of their attempts from outside the arc. SCU only went to the foul line 11 times and made seven of those.

The Cobbers had a pair of players finish with more than 10 points. Senior guard Greta Walsh had a team-high 14 points and was 6-for-6 from the free throw line while Jenna Januschka was 2-for-2 from the floor, 8-for-11 from the foul line and finished with 12 points. Junior Cassidy Rahman recorded a career-high 10 rebounds.

WHAT'S NEXT: Concordia will return home to host Hamline on Saturday, Feb. 11 at 1 p.m. as part of the annual Buck Day celebration. Fans can get into both the men's and women's games for only $1 and also have access to the Cobber swimming pool from 2-5 p.m.