Fourth Quarter Rally Nets 1st MIAC Win

WINONA, Minn. (12/07/19)---Concordia outscored St. Mary's 22-15 in the fourth quarter to come from behind and claim a 76-71 win in Winona.

The Cobbers led for almost the entire first half but then fell behind in the third quarter before rallying to win their first conference game of the season.

Concordia wins for the second time in the last three games and both wins have been on Saturday. The Cobbers are now 3-5 overall and 1-2 in the MIAC. St. Mary's continues to look for its first win of the year and drops to 0-5 in all games and 0-3 in league play.

Concordia jumped out of the gate and sped to an 8-2 lead in the first three minutes of the opening period. They would push the lead to 10 points on a pair of jumpers from Bailee Larson and Elizabeth Birkemeyer.

The Cobbers led 22-18 after the first quarter of play but then had the Cardinals go on an 8-2 run to take their first lead of the game at 5:42 of the second quarter. CC would respond by outscoring SMU 13-5 for the rest of the quarter and held a 39-33 lead at the break.

St. Mary's outscored the Cobbers 23-15 in the third quarter and held a 56-54 lead heading into the final period. CC then shot 46.7% (6-for-13) from the floor and held the Cardinals to 4-for-12 shooting to come away with the win.

Sophomore Mary Sem continued her double-digit scoring trend as she finished with a team-high 17 points after shooting 7-for-14 from the floor. She also had seven rebounds and a team-high five assists. Sem has now scored in double figures in four straight games and seven of the eight games this year. She is averaging 15.0 point per game which is tied for 10th in the MIAC.  

Sem was one of four Concordia players to score at least 10 points. Point guard Autumn Thompson had 14 points and added five rebounds and four assists. It is the second time in the last three games she has had at least five rebounds.

Emily Beseman was 3-for-6 from outside the arc and finished with 13 points while Larson had 10 points to go along with a team-high eight rebounds. 

Vanessa Kedl gave the Cobbers an edge off the bench as she grabbed seven rebounds to go with eight points. 

Concordia returned to their theme of outrebounding its opponent. The Cobbers held 38-35 edge on the glass and have now outrebounded their opponents in six of the eight games this year.

The biggest statistical advantage in the game came from the Cobber reserves. Concordia had a 29-13 edge in points off the bench.

UP NEXT: Concordia will host their final home game of 2019 when they square off against Carleton on Wednesday, Dec. 11 at 7 p.m. The Knights are 2-5 overall and 0-3 in the MIAC.     

Saturday recaps sponsored by Bufffalo Wild Wings: Grab your friends and get to B-Dubs on Sunday nights for College Nights at 9 p.m. 50% off 1 food item with ID and $3 apps at the Buffalo Wild Wings located on Hwy 10 in Moorhead.