3-Pointers & Turnovers Tell The Tale

STORY LINE: Concordia connected on a season-high 11 3-pointers but also had a season high in turnovers and lost 86-69 to Simpson in a non-conference game in Moorhead. The Cobbers battled in the second half and only trailed the Storm by two points in the final 20 minutes of play but it wasn't enough to overcome a 57-42 halftime deficit.

RECORDS: Concordia falls for the fourth straight game and is now 3-6 for the season. Simpson wins for the fourth straight game and improves to 7-1 on the year.

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED: Concordia trailed by as many as 16 points in the second quarter but then cut the deficit to single digits at 51-42 with just over one minute to play in the half before the Storm went on a 6-0 run to finish off the second quarter to take a 57-42 lead into the break. Simpson would then start the second half on a 11-0 run in the first three minutes of play to put the game out of reach.

3-BALL BATTLE: Both teams were on form from outside the arc. The squads combined for 20 made long balls and 60 of the combined 155 points came via the 3-point shot. The Cobbers were 11-for-32 (34.4%) from outside the arc and Simpson was 9-for-22 (40.9%). The 20 made 3-pointers is the most in a CC game this season.

TOUGH TURNOVER TIME: Simpson used its full-court pressure to force 32 turnovers in the game. That is the most by the Cobbers this season and the Storm used those turnovers to come away with a 42-18 advantage in points off of turnovers.

INSIDE STAT STUFF: It was a mixed bag of stats from underneath the basket. Concordia held a 35-26 edge in rebounds and had seven more offensive rebounds but the Storm held a 32-20 in points in the paint.       

ADVANTAGE AVERY: Cobber freshman Avery Sundeen came off the bench to score a career-high 14 points. Her previous season high was three points. Sundeen was 4-for-6 from outside the arc and scored all of her points in the second and third quarters.

MORE MIRA: Junior Mira Ellefson led Concordia in scoring for the fifth straight game. She was 3-for-6 from 3-point range and finished with 15 points. It is her eighth straight double-digit scoring game. She currently leads CC in scoring with a 14.1 ppg average. Last year she averaged 8.1 ppg.

CALLING KIRSTIN: Senior Kirstin Simmons led the Cobbers in rebounding for the fifth straight time and the seventh time in the team's nine games. Simmons finished with a game-high nine rebounds and is now averaging a team-best 7.8 rebounds per game which is 2.4 rebounds per game more than her total last year.

UP NEXT: Concordia will have a 2-week break for the Christmas holiday and return to action on Saturday, Dec. 29 when they play at Wis.-Superior at 3 p.m. The Yellowjackets are 9-1 on the year and have won seven straight.