Road Win Keeps Cobbers In Top 3

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. (1/30/15) --- Concordia got what they needed in a 65-61 win at Augsburg. The Cobbers had to come up with a key road win to keep pace with the conference leaders and CC saved their best play for down the stretch to stay in a battle at the top 3 of the MIAC. 

The win helps Concordia improve to 13-6 overall and 9-3 in MIAC play while the Auggies dropped to 10-9 overall and 5-7 in conference play. The Cobbers stay in a tie for third place in the league standings but now CC is tied only with Gustavus and just one game behind conference leaders St. Mary's and St. Thomas. 

Augsburg held their largest lead late in the first quarter but then the Cobbers came back and grabbed their biggest lead of 12 points with 7:16 remaining in the fourth quarter. 

Concordia's first quarter was nothing to tweet about.  The Cobbers went 1-for-11 from the floor over the course of the first 8:32 and trailed 11-3. After a timeout, CC cut the gap to 13-7 with baskets by Jenna Januschka and Katie Rosenfeldt. 

Greta Walsh had fans on a tweeting rampage in the second quarter. She hit triples on consecutive possessions then dropped in her patented scoop layup a couple possessions later. 

Walsh hit yet another triple at the 6:16 mark to give her 11 points in the first four minutes of the quarter and capped an 18-5 run sandwiched between the last 1:28 of the first quarter and the first four minutes of the second quarter.   

After an Olivia Johnson jump shot and four points from Januschka, CC had come back from their dreadful first quarter to take a 30-26 lead at recess. 

Johnson and Januschka continued to provide a scoring presence in the third quarter. The tandem combined for 12 of the team's 14 points in the ten minutes following the half and CC led 44-37 going into the fourth quarter. 

From the 1:28 mark of the first quarter to the end of the third quarter a total of 22:28, the stingy Concordia defense held Augsburg to just 26 points. That feat is made even more impressive considering the fact that the Auggies pumped in 82 points in their last game at St. Mary's. 

Walsh, held scoreless in the third quarter, knocked down her first try from distance in the fourth quarter to push the Cobber lead to 49-39. 

Augsburg made a push at the end.  Maria Loughlin poured in 17 points in the fourth quarter alone, including three triples, but it was not enough. 

Despite Loughlin scoring 17 of her teams' 24 points in the last ten minutes - including the last 10 - the Cobbers went 12-of-18 from the free throw line and outrebounded the Auggies 11-4. 

Loughlin recorded a game-high 26 points on 11-of-19 shooting from the floor and was a perfect 3-for-3 from beyond the arc. 

Johnson and Januschka each came up with a pair of offensive rebounds in the late minutes, which lengthened Concordia's possessions and forced Augsburg to foul. 

After the timeout called with 1:28 to play in the first quarter, Concordia shot 59.7% (19-of-32) the rest of the way. CC shot 46.5% (20-of-43) over the course of four quarters. 

The Cobbers controlled the glass. CC outrebounded the Auggies 43-28, Johnson and Januschka each having ten rebounds or more. 

LUCKY 13'S
Jenna Januschka and Olivia Johnson each had 13 rebounds. 

DOUBLE-DOUBLE FOR DIBS
Johnson did a little bit of everything on Saturday. She chipped in 12 points, hauled down 13 boards and added four assists and three steals. It was her third double-double of the season and eighth of her career. 

JJ JUST BEING JJ
Januschka poured in a career-high 23 points on 6-of-7 shooting from the field and was 11-of-14 from the charity stripe. In addition she added 13 rebounds to go along with two dimes and a block. It was both her fourth double-double this and the fourth time she has scored 20 or more points this season. 

WALSH ON, WALSH OFF
Greta Walsh has been solid in both halves of her last two games, but particularly stellar in the first half.  In Saturday's game at Augsburg she had a team-high (and at that point game-high) 12 points at the break. Against St. Olaf on Wednesday she dropped 16 points in the first half. She ended with 17 and 18 points, respectively. 

WHAT'S NEXT?
Concordia will travel to Carleton on Wednesday, February 3 to take on the Knights, who have an overall record of 4-15 and a 1-11 conference record. The Knights narrowly lost 65-59 to league-leading St. Mary's at home. Concordia beat Carleton 63-40 back on January 6.