Defensive Pressure Leads To Eighth Straight Win

WINONA, Minn. (2/03/13)—Concordia led for the final 34 minutes against St. Mary's and went on to post a 64-54 win over the Cardinals to move one step closer to the MIAC regular-season title.

The Cobbers went on a 13-0 run at the 14:41 mark of the first half and never looked back as they earned their eighth straight victory. Concordia has now won 14 of their past 15 games and is 16-2 in conference play. The win over the second-place Cardinals means that CC now has a 1.5 game lead over St. Ben's in the conference standings and a full two-game advantage over SMU. The Cobbers are 17-4 overall..

The story of the game was once again the pressure of the Concordia defense. The Cobbers limited St. Mary's to just 33.8% (22-for-65) from the field and 20.0% (2-for-10) from 3-point range. CC has not allowed an opponent to score more than 60 points in five straight games and has held foes to just 32.9% during that stretch.

Concordia senior guard Emily Thesing continued her stellar play down the stretch of the conference race as she led all scorers with 17 points. She also added seven rebounds and three steals. She was one of three CC players to score in double figures. Alley Fisher was 5-for-10 from the floor and finished with 15 points while new 500-rebound club member Tricia Sorensen came away with 10 points and collected seven rebounds. Sorensen scored all 10 points in the first half of play.

Junior center Alexandra Lippert swatted a season-high six shots. She has now had at least one block in five straight games and is averaging 3.2 blocks per game in that streak of games.

The Cobbers held a 44-35 advantage in rebounds and were able to force 12 Cardinal turnovers which turned into nine points off of turnovers.

Concordia will continue with their four-game road trip when they play at second-place St. Ben's on Wednesday, Feb. 6 at 7:30 p.m.