Cobbers Take It To The Rack For Sixth Straight Win

MOORHEAD, Minn. (1/09/13)—Concordia survived a torrid second-half run from St. Ben's and regrouped to record an 81-68 win over the Blazers. The win is the sixth straight for the Cobbers and eighth in the last nine games. CC is now tied for second place in the MIAC standings.

The Cobbers built an 18-point lead with 14:56 to play in the second half but then watched as the Blazers whittled that down to a mere four points at 58-54 with 10:28 to play. Concordia responded by scoring the next seven points and never let St. Ben's get to within 10 points the rest of the game.

"I think we turned up our defensive intensity after they made the run," said Concordia head coach Jessica Rahman. "We came up with good stops defensively and then were able to drive the ball and get to the rack offensively."

Concordia senior Emily Thesing led the charge after the Blazer rally and ended up leading the team in scoring with 22 points. "We recognized that we could take them off the dribble," said Thesing. "I think just being aggressive and getting at the line was important for us."

Audio Interview:

Emily Thesing on the win over St. Ben's  (1:28)

Concordia (9-3/8-1 MIAC) went to the line 25 times in the game and shot 76.0%. Their edge in foul shooting and ability to push the ball up the court led to their third straight double-digit win.

The Cobbers upped the tempo and turned up the defensive pressure in the first half and turned a five-point lead with 2:32 to play into an 11-point lead at the break.

"We have been working on pressing harder on the defensive end," commented Rahman. "It has helped us take teams out of their offensive and led to more transition baskets."

The two teams were almost even in shooting percentages except for at the free throw line. The Cobbers shot 46.8% (29-for-62) from the floor and 30.8% (4-for-13) from outside the arc while St. Ben's connected on 43.1% (25-for-58) of their attempts from the floor and 33.3% (4-for-12) of their shots from outside the arc.

Besides the 22 points from Thesing, Tricia Sorensen added 15 and Alley Fisher finished with 11 points. Sorensen also had a team-high seven rebounds. Kelsey Walloch had seven points and six rebounds while Erika Jossart had eight points and four assists.

The Cobbers will finish off their four-game home stand when they host Hamline on Saturday, Jan. 9 at 1 p.m.