Cobbers Host Second Straight MIAC Semifinal

MOORHEAD, Minn. (2/23/23)—Concordia will host St. Catherine in the semifinals of the MIAC women's playoff on Thursday, Feb. 22 at 7 p.m. in Memorial Auditorium. The Cobbers earned their second straight MIAC playoff appearance and 18th in program history by going 18-2 in conference play.

Below you will find all the information you need to get ready for the MIAC playoff semifinal.

TICKET INFORMATION: The first 50 Cobber students with ID will be admitted free of charge. Ticket prices for all others are $10 for adults and $2 for any students (5 years old and younger are free). There is no senior discount. MIAC passes will be honored. No other passes will be accepted.

WHAT: MIAC Women's Basketball Semifinals

WHEN: Thursday, Feb. 22 at 7 p.m.

WHERE: Memorial Auditorium – Moorhead, Minn.

TEAMS: No.3 Seed St. Catherine (19-7/14-6 MIAC) at No.2 Seed Concordia (19-4/18-2 MIAC)

LIVE LINKS:  Live Video | Live Stats

HOW THEY GOT HERE: Concordia secured the No.2 seed in the conference playoffs for the second straight year by going 18-2 in conference play. It marked the second straight year that CC has won 18 league games. The Cobbers earned their second straight to the league playoffs by posting a pair of 6-game win streaks - the last coming in the final six games of the regular season. 

No.3-seed St. Catherine had to hold off #6 Hamline in a double-overtime thriller in the quarterfinals of the MIAC playoffs on Tuesday. The Wildcats were 14-6 in conference play this year. Like the Cobbers, they recorded a pair of 6-game win streaks during the year and won six of their final regular-season contests - losing at St. Benedict last Saturday. St. Kate's started the MIAC campaign by going 3-3 and are 11-3 since the start of the calendar year.  

RECORDS VS. OTHER PLAYOFF TEAMS: Concordia went 8-2 against the other five MIAC playoff teams. The Cobbers swept St. Kate's, Bethel and St. Benedict. CC didn't get swept by any playoff team as they went 1-1 against the Gusties and Hamline. The Wildcats went 4-6 in the regular season against conference playoff squads. SCU swept Bethel, but was swept by Gustavus and the Cobbers. They played to splits against St. Benedict and Hamline.   

HOME AND AWAY: Concordia was 11-0 at home this year in all games and has won 19 straight inside Memorial Auditorium. The Cobbers were 10-0 at home against MIAC teams. St. Kate's was 8-5 on the road this year. The Wildcats were 7-4 away from home against conference opponents.

PLAYOFF PEDIGREE: Concordia is making its 18th overall MIAC playoff appearance. The Cobbers are hosting their second straight conference semifinal after advancing to the championship game last year. CC is 14-15 all-time in the MIAC playoffs. The Cobbers have won the MIAC playoff tournament on two occasions (2006, 2011) and have played in the title game six times. Concordia is 11-3 at home in the MIAC postseason and 6-6 in semifinal games.

St. Kate's is making its seventh trip to the conference postseason. Before the "all in" tournament in 2022, the Wildcats' last trip to the postseason was in 2020 when they lost in the quarterfinals at St. Thomas. SCU is now 2-6 all-time in the playoffs. Their only other playoff win, before Tuesday, came in 2010 when they beat the Cobbers 79-65 in the quarterfinals. That was the only season they have advanced past the quarterfinals. They wound up losing to St. Benedict in the semifinals that year.           

PLAYOFF HEAD-TO-HEAD: This will be the time the teams have faced each other in the postseason - and the first since 2010. Both of the previous match-ups came in the quarterfinals and both were played in Moorhead with the Cobbers being the No.3 seed and the Wildcats as the No.6 seed. Concordia came away with an 80-73 win in 2007, while St. Kate's prevailed 79-65 in 2010. Neither team went on to win the following game in the semifinals.      

| 2007 MIAC Quarterfinal Recap/Box Score |
   

| 2010 MIAC Quarterfinal Recap/Box Score |

REGULAR SEASON MATCH-UP: Concordia swept the regular-season series. The closest of the two games came in November in the series opener in St. Paul. The Cobbers earned the win by putting together a 16-3 run to start the second half after they trailed 39-28 at the halftime break. CC wound up outscoring the Wildcats 44-22 in the final 16 minutes of play to come away with the 8-point win. The most significant statistical difference came from the turnover category, where the CC pressure defense forced 20 total turnovers and played that into a 28-19 advantage in points off of miscues. Concordia was led by Carlee Sieben, who was 3-for-6 from outside the arc and had 20 points to go with three assists and two steals. First-year guard Hattie Fox paced the Wildcats with 15 points and was 5-for-10 from the floor.   

| Game 1 Recap/Box Score: Concordia 75, St. Kate's 67 |

The second game in Moorhead in the middle of January got out of hand in the second half. The Cobbers led 23-18 after the first quarter and 44-35 at halftime, but then outscored St. Kate's 29-14 in the third quarter and 27-9 in the final frame. The game ended up being a sequence of eerie coincidences after Concordia scored 100 points in a game for the first time since 2009. The Cobbers used the strength of their inside game to post the lopsided win. CC was able to get the ball in the paint area consistently, which led to a 53.7% (36-for-67) shooting percentage from the floor. They also outscored the Wildcats 56-16 in points in the paint for the game. The top two scorers in the game were the same as the first contest with Sieben putting up 18 points and Fox coming away with nine.        

| Game 2 Recap/Box Score: Concordia 100, St. Kate's 58 |

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING: How each team ranks in the MIAC for conference games only.

STAT STARS: Concordia has two of the Top 5 scorers in the MIAC in conference play - and three in the Top 11. Junior Makayla Anderson was second in the MIAC with an average of 14.8 points per game in the team's 20 league contests. Carlee Sieben was fifth at 14.2 ppg and Emily Beseman was 11th at 12.1 ppg. Anderson was also third in the league in rebounding (7.7 rpg), while Sieben was second in 3-point field goal percentage (39.1) and tied for second in 3-point field goals per game (2.3). Beseman was also second in assists per game (3.6).      

The St. Kate's offense is led by Hattie Fox and junior Greta Schimnowki. Fox led the team in scoring with a 13.1 points per game average which was seventh best in the conference. She also led the team in rebounding at 4.7 rpg. Schimnowski is the team's outside threat. She led the conference in 3-point field percentage (43.0%) and was tied with Sieben for 3's per game (2.3).             

CONCORDIA PLAYOFF PUMP-UP PREVIEW