30-For-40 Leads To 20 & 20 In Semifinal Win

MOORHEAD, Minn. (2/22/24)---For the third straight time this season, Concordia used a dominant third quarter to cruise past St. Catherine and post a comfortable 80-71 victory.

On Wednesday in the MIAC semifinals, Concordia outscored the Wildcats 29-19 to turn a 4-point halftime lead into a 14-point margin. The Cobbers finished their three wins against St. Kate's this year by averaging 28.3 points in the third quarter and outscoring the Wildcats by a combined total of 85-51.

The win is the 20th straight at home for Concordia and ups their overall record in 2024 to 20-4. The 20 wins mark the second straight season that CC has won 20 games. Last year they went 22-5. The back-to-back 20-win seasons are the first time since 2013 and 2014 that the Cobbers have pulled off that feat.

The Cobbers will now play Gustavus in the championship game of the MIAC Tournament on Saturday, Feb. 24 at 3 p.m.

Concordia never trailed in the semifinal game and threatened to run away from St. Catherine from the opening tip. The Cobbers scored the first five points in the game and built up a double-digit lead after the first 10 minutes of play.

Concordia pushed the lead to 16 points at the 6:56 mark of the second quarter, but then the Wildcats went on a 15-3 run to close out the half and CC would only take a 32-28 lead into the break.

The game stayed close until the final 4:40 of the third quarter. The Cobbers held a 46-41 lead as St. Kate's answered every CC run at the start of the third quarter. That changed in the final 4 minutes when Concordia closed out the quarter on a 15-6 run and led 61-47 heading into the fourth period of play.

Concordia only allowed SCU to cut the lead down to single digits on one occasion before the final minute of play. The Wildcats trimmed the margin to nine points at 61-52 with 8:14 to play, but then Jordyn Kahler connected on a layup, Emily Beseman made one of two free throws and Makayla Anderson knocked down a jumper to push the lead to 14 points which finally put the game out of reach.

The biggest stat difference in the game came at the free throw line where the Cobbers made a season-high 30 foul attempts. They went 30-for-40 from the free throw line as opposed to 11-for-14 for St. Kate's.

The 30 made free throws are the most in a single game for CC since the 2014 season when they went 33-for-38 against Hamline on Dec. 14, 2013. The 40 attempts foul-line shots are the most since they also had 40 (24-for-40) against Valley City State on Dec. 29, 2007.

Concordia shot 42.3% (22-for-52) from the floor and 40.0% (6-for-15) from outside the arc. St. Kate's connected on 33.3% (25-for-75) from the field and 40.% (10-for-25) from distance.

Anderson led a quartet of Cobber players who finished in double-digits in scoring. She was 6-for-12 from the field, 7-for-8 from the free throw line and finished with 19 points to go with seven boards.

Carlee Sieben went 4-for-5 from 3-point range and had 16 points, while Kahler had 14 and Beseman added 11. Kahler scored nine points in the third quarter and all of her 14 points in the second half. Beseman also grabbed nine rebounds.

Junior Greta Tollefson led all players with a career-high 12 rebounds and was a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line.

UP NEXT: Concordia will head to St. Peter to face Gustavus in the MIAC Championship game on Saturday, Feb. 24 at 3 p.m. The Cobbers will be playing in their second straight conference title game and seventh in program history.

CONCORDIA vs. ST. CATHERINE HIGHLIGHTS