Youth Is Rewarded In MIAC Awards

MOORHEAD, Minn. (3/04/20)---Concordia's resurgence in 2020 was led by a talented group of first and second-year players and three of those student/athletes were rewarded by earning MIAC postseason honors as selected by the conference coaches for the first time in their careers.

Sophomores Mary Sem (Fargo, N.D./Fargo North HS) and Autumn Thompson (Argyle, Minn./Stephen-Argyle Central HS) were named to the MIAC All-Conference Team and freshman Emily Beseman (Swanville, Minn.) earned All-First-Year Team honors.

Junior Elizabeth Birkemeyer (Ada, Minn./Ada-Borup) was selected by the Concordia coaching staff for the All-Sportsmanship Team.

The four players helped Concordia finish with a 9-11 record in conference play and tie for sixth place in the final conference standings. The nine league wins is the most since the 2016 season when the Cobbers went 13-5 and finished fourth. Concordia also had 11 overall wins which marked the second time in the past four years that CC has reached the double-digit win total.

The All-Conference honors for Sem and Thompson mark the first time since 2016 (Olivia Johnson and Jenna Januschka) that the Cobbers have had multiple All-MIAC award winners.      

Sem was the team's main inside scoring threat and led the team in scoring in conference play. She started all 20 MIAC games and finished with a 14.1 points per game average.  She was ninth in the league in scoring average in league games. She also led the team in field goal percentage as she shot 49.8% from the floor. That mark was also ninth in the MIAC.

Sem scored at least 10 points in 15 of the 20 conference games and had a career-high 34 points against Hamline on Feb. 3. She also put up at least 20 points in five games.

Sem's much-improved post play helped her get to the basket and also to the free throw line. She went to the free throw line 108 times in the MIAC and was one of only four players in the league to attempt at least 100 free throws on the year. She made 77 foul shots which was fourth most in the league.     

Thompson was the team's main outside scoring threat and had a 12.7 ppg average in MIAC play. Like Sem, she put up double-digit point totals in 15 games. Thompson's career high came against St. Catherine when she dropped 26 points in the record-setting four overtime win. She had four 20-point games and finished the year by posting at least 20 points in three of the last four games.

Thompson's main weapon was making shots from outside the arc where she finished second in the MIAC with 52 made 3-pointers. She shot 39.7% from long range in conference play and had at least one 3-pointer in all but one conference game she played. Thompson made at least three 3-pointers in 10 games.

Thompson was also the workhorse of the team as she led the conference in minutes played (690).

Beseman becomes the first Cobber player to be named to the MIAC All-First-Year Team since Greta Walsh earned the award in 2014. She was a dangerous double threat player for the Cobbers who could score from the outside as well as put the ball on the floor and get to the basket. Beseman ended her first conference season with an 11.8 ppg average – giving the Cobber three players in double digits for the year. She scored in double figures in 13 games and had a career-high 27 points at home against Carleton on Dec. 11

Beseman made 34 shots from outside the arc against MIAC opponents which was tie for 11th best in the conference.

Beseman was also the team's top free throw shooter. She made 87.5% of her foul shots in MIAC play which was third best in the MIAC.