Inside, Outside & All-Around; Cobbers Cover All The Bases

MOORHEAD, Minn. (12/9/23)---The Los Angeles Dodgers might have the Big 3 of Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman and Shohei Ohtani, but the Cobbers have their own Big 3 of Carlee Sieben, Makayla Anderson and Emily Beseman.

The Outside, Inside and All-Around trio was too much for Hamline as they combined to score 50 points, grab 15 rebounds and dish out 14 assists in Concordia's 82-59 win over the Pipers.

The victory is the sixth straight for the Cobbers, whose start coincided with the beginning of MIAC play. Concordia is 6-0 in the conference and 7-2 overall. The 6-game win streak to open conference play is the longest since the 2010-11 season when they also started the league with a 6-0 mark. CC went on to win the conference tournament championship in the 2011 campaign.

"Miss Outside" Sieben led the way for Concordia as she went 5-for-9 from distance and finished with a season-high 23 points. She also added four assists and a pair of rebounds.

"Miss Inside" Anderson came down with a game-high seven rebounds and helped CC own a 31-26 rebound advantage. Anderson chipped in 12 points and posted four assists as she was able to kick the ball outside to open teammates after the Piper defense was forced to triple-team her in the paint.

Anderson finished the week by averaging 16.3 points and 9.0 rebounds in the team's wins over St. Mary's, St. Ben's and Hamline.

"Miss All-Around" Beseman once again filled the stat sheet in four different categories. She scored 15 points, dropped a game-high six assists, pulled down six rebounds and led the team with a pair of steals.

Beseman is averaging 12.5 points, 5.0 assists, 4.3 assists and 1.11 steals in Concordia's six conference games.

The Curt's Lock and Key Stage of the Game came at the start of the second quarter. The Cobbers led 25-13 after the first quarter of play, but then Hamline (5-2, 4-2 MIAC) went on a 10-0 run to start the second stanza and cut the lead all the way down to two points at 25-23.

Concordia responded by going on an 11-2 run, which turned into a 17-5 streak, which led to a 15-point lead at the halftime break. The entire game-changing stretch was ignited by Sieben, who knocked down a lengthy 3-point basket to stop the 10-point Piper run.  While Sieben lit the fire, Anderson and Beseman stoked the flames, and together, the three scored the Cobbers' next nine points after HU got to within a pair.

Concordia got 15 players in the game and had 10 come away with at least two points.

Taylor Safranski put up a career-high scoring number, while Genevieve Gruba recorded her second straight 7-rebound performance.  

Safranski went 3-for-4 from the floor and scored eight points. Gruba has now hauled in 25 rebounds in the last four games, which is second only to Anderson during that stretch.

Alexa Snesrud earned the Anderson Automotive Spark Plug award for the game. She came off the bench and had three rebounds, two points and a steal as her defensive hustle around the basket helped Concordia to their rebound advantage.

UP NEXT: Concordia will have an extended break for the holidays, and return to action on Jan. 3 when they face fellow conference unbeaten Gustavus in St. Peter. The Gusties, ranked eighth in the latest D3hoops.com national rankings, are 7-0 in all games and 5-0 in league play.  

CONCORDIA vs. HAMLINE HIGHLIGHTS: