Hanging With The Top 20

MOORHEAD, Minn. (1/10/18)---Concordia never backed down from No.16-ranked St. Thomas, stayed within four points of the defending MIAC champions until the final two minutes of play before finally running out of gas and fell 64-54.

The Cobbers used a hustling defense and a balanced offense to hang around the Tommies. Concordia held St. Thomas to 41.6% (21-for-51) from the field, 26.3% (5-for-19) from outside the arc and had five players with at least five points in the game.

The biggest difference in the game came around the basket where the Tommies outscored the Cobbers 32-14 in points in the paint and Concordia had no answer for UST center Hannah Spaulding who put up a game-high 25 points and went 9-for-13 from the field.

Concordia (5-8/2-4 MIAC) was led in scoring by their tallest player as Kirstin Simmons went 5-for-9 from the floor, hauled down a game-high eight rebounds and scored 14 points.

The Cobbers had three other players with at least seven points. Mira Ellefson, who returned to action for the first time after sitting out a pair of games with an injury, went 4-for-8 from the field and finished with nine points. Lincoln Haiby and Grace Wolhowe posted seven points each. Haiby also grabbed six rebounds while Wolhowe missed only two shots all night.

Concordia finished the game by shooting 34.0% (17-for-50) from the floor and 22.2% (4-for-18) from outside the arc.

NOT FROM THE CHEAP SEATS: Concordia held St. Thomas to 26.3% shooting from outside the arc which marks the 10th time this season they have held their opponent to under 30.0% shooting from 3-point range. The Cobbers lead the MIAC in opponent's 3-point shooting percentage. CC is holding foes to a mere 25.0% from outside the arc.   

SIMMONS STUFF: Kirstin Simmons scored in double digits for the fifth time on the year and matched her career high with 14 points. Simmons upped her season average to 8.0 points/game. She leads the Cobbers in rebounding with a 5.7 rebound/game average. She has also gotten to the free throw line more than any other CC player. Simmons has shot a team-high 44 free throw attempts.     

A COLD SNAP: Unfortunately for Concordia their shooting sights didn't experience the recent warmer temps. The Cobbers have lost their last four games and haven't shot better than 39.2% from the floor and 33.3% from outside the arc in any game.

WHAT'S NEXT: Concordia will host a key MIAC match-up when they square off against Carleton on Saturday, Jan. 13 at 3 p.m. The Cobbers and Knights both have four losses in conference play and are sitting in sixth and seventh place in the league standings as the teams start to reach the midway point of the conference season.   

CONCORDIA vs. ST. THOMAS HIGHLIGHTS: