Role Reversal Leads To MIAC Semifinal Loss

MOORHEAD, Minn. (2/27/14)-- The tables were turned on Concordia in their MIAC semifinal game with St. Thomas. The Cobbers beat the Tommies in both regular-season meetings by dominating the second half. On Thursday St. Thomas reversed the roles by outscoring CC 42-28 and came away with a 71-56 victory.

The loss snaps the Cobbers' seven-game unbeaten streak and places them at 21-5 on the year. Concordia will now have to wait until Monday to see if their stellar regular-season resume is enough to earn them an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament. The Tommies win for 11th time in the last 12 games and moves to 23-4 on the season.

The game was played a frenetic pace early as the teams used their playoff energy to race up and down the floor. Concordia was able to get the ball inside and score early while the Tommies were able to score off the break and from the perimeter. St. Thomas grabbed a 9-4 lead in the first three minutes of play. Concordia then went on a 20-10 run over the next 14 minutes to grab their biggest lead of the game at 24-19. The teams then traded baskets before the Tommies closed the half on an 8-2 run to take a 29-28 lead at the break.

St. Thomas then seized control of the game by scoring the first nine points of the second half and taking the first double-digit lead of the game at 38-28 with 16:14 left on the clock. Concordia then struggled to get the ball inside and earn open shots on the perimeter and never got within seven points for the remainder of the game.

The Tommies wound up shooting 60.9% (14-for-23) from the floor and 60.0% (3-for-5) from beyond the arc in the second half. Concordia connected on 30.8% (8-for-26) of their shots from the floor and 33.3% (3-for-9) of their attempts during the same period of time.

St. Thomas finished the game by going 6-for-12 (50.0%) from 3-point range in the game. The Tommies shot just 10.3% (3-for-29) from beyond the arc in the two regular-season games between the two teams.

Concordia senior center Alexandra Lippert led all players in scoring and rebounding. Playing in her final game in Memorial Auditorium, Lippert scored a career-high 25 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. It her fifth double-double of the season for her and the 16th double-double of her career.

Lippert was the only Cobber player to score more than seven points in the game. Morgan Gunderson came off the bench and was 3-for-3 from the floor to finish with six points and Olivia Johnson had six rebounds, four points and four assists.

The Cobbers will now wait until Monday afternoon to see if they earn an at-large bid into the 64-team NCAA Division III Tournament.