Three-Quarter Lead Dwindles Down The Stretch

NORTHFIELD, Minn. (11/16/21)---Concordia led 13-10 after the first quarter, 31-21 at the halftime break and 38-31 after 30 minutes of play. That's when things went south. The Cobbers were outscored 23-7 in the fourth quarter and lost 54-45 at Carleton.

Concordia shot just 17.2% (5-for-29) from the field in the second half and went 0-for-8 from outside the arc in final 20 minutes in their first conference loss of the season.   

The Cobbers (1-2, 1-1 MIAC) scored seven points in each of the third and fourth quarters, while the Knights put up 10 in the third period and a game-high 23 in the fourth frame to grab the win.

The decisive stretch in the game came in the final 4-minutes of play. CC led by seven points at 45-38, but then Carleton went on a 16-0 run to finish the game. Concordia went 0-for-7 with three turnovers in the final 3:32, while the Knights made nine straight free throws and went 1-for-1 from the floor.

Concordia finished the game by shooting 30.5% (18-for-59) from the floor, but only 9.5% (2-for-21) from 3-point range for the game. The 9.5% from outside the arc is the lowest percentage with more than 10 3-pointers attempted since CC shot 8.3% in the second game of the 2019-20 season.

Carleton (2-1, 1-1 MIAC) shot 30.2% (16-for-53) from the floor and 18.8% (3-for-16) from distance.

The Knights held a 43-36 edge in rebounds. The two teams combined for 31 offensive rebounds (17-14). The game also featured 44 turnovers with the Cobbers forcing 23 Carleton miscues.

Junior Emily Beseman had a team-high 17 points. She also grabbed four rebounds and had four steals.

Senior Mary Sem was the only other CC player in double digits in points. She posted 13 points and had five rebounds.

Freshman Greta Tollefson led all players with nine rebounds.          

UP NEXT: Concordia will finish off their pre-Thanksgiving schedule when they host Macalester on Tuesday, Nov. 23 at 5:15 p.m.