End Of November Feels Like Start of March In Thrilling Win

MOORHEAD, Minn. (11/26/22)---The end of November felt a lot like the beginning of January. Outside Memoria Auditorium, the warm temperatures were melting the last traces of snow, while inside The Barn, Concordia and Gustavus were locked in a conference playoff-style battle.

The Cobbers never trailed after the 7-minute mark of the first quarter in the battle of the unbeaten teams, but it was the Gusties who made the run down the stretch to turn an easy win into a 1-point, nail-biter.

Concordia used an impressive offensive first half to build a 22-point second-quarter lead on their way to a dramatic 64-63 win over the defending MIAC playoff champions.

The win is the fourth straight for the Cobbers to start the season, and second over the Gusties since 2014-15. The last time Concordia opened with four consecutive victories was the 2011-12 season when they won their first six and won the MIAC playoff title.

Concordia (4-0, 3-0 MIAC) earned its win over Gustavus in the first 20 minutes of play. The Cobbers outscored GAC 24-12 in the opening quarter, and 37-23 in the first half.

Gustavus (4-1, 2-1 MIAC) returned the favor by posting a 24-14 advantage in the final quarter and a 40-27 edge in the second half.

In the end, one of the keys in the game was the Cobbers' full court pressure defense. Concordia forced 22 turnovers and turned that into a 28-7 advantage in points off of turnovers. The 22 miscues by Gustavus are the most in a single game since the start of last season – streak of 22 games.

The Cobbers' defense also sped up the shot selection for Gustavus in the first half as the Gusties shot 28.6% (8-for-28) from the field and 20.0% (1-for-5) from outside the arc in the first half of play.

The sneaker was on the other foot in the second half as Concordia shot 20.8% (5-for-24) from the field and 10.0% (1for-10) from distance in the final 20 minutes of play.

What sealed the game for CC down the stretch was their ability to get to the free throw line. Concordia scored 12 points from the foul line in the fourth quarter and had only two points from the floor.

The final margin of victory was a Makayla Anderson free throw that put CC up by four points at 64-60 in the final 7-seconds of play. Gustavus was able to connect on a 3-pointer with 0.3-seconds left on the clock, but it wasn't enough as CC successfully inbounded the ball to run out the clock.

The Cobbers had three players score 45 of the team's 64 points – and all finished with at least 10 points. Senior Emily Beseman led Concordia in scoring for the second straight game. She was 9-ffor-12 from the free throw line and finished with a game-high 18 points. Beseman also had a team-high four steals.

Anderson had 12 points in the first quarter alone and finished with 17. She was 5-for-5 in the opening period as Gustavus wasn't able to stop her from scoring on the low block. Anderson came away with a team-high five rebounds.

Carlee Sieben connected on a pair of early 3-pointers and finished with 10 points. She has now scored in double figures in three of the first four games of the year.          

UP NEXT: The Cobbers will have a week break before returning to action in Arden Hills when they play at Bethel on Saturday, Dec. 3 at 3 p.m.