Thesing And Sorensen Key Second-Half Comeback

MOORHEAD, Minn. (2/01/12)--Concordia outscored Bethel 39-32 in the second half and beat the Royals 65-63 in a key MIAC match-up on Wednesday. Emily Thesing hit a pair of free throws in the final seconds and then stole an errant pass to seal the win for the Cobbers.   

The Cobbers, who took their first lead of the game at 11:14 of the second half, earned the critical win in a battle of teams tied for third place in the MIAC standings. The victory moves the Cobbers to 11-6 in the MIAC and one game ahead of Bethel in the league standings. Concordia is now 13-7 overall. The Royals drop to 10-7 in the conference and 12-8 in all games.

Thesing and fellow junior Tricia Sorensen were the driving forces behind Concordia's second-half comeback. The pair had 12 points each in the final period and accounted for 24 of the team's 39 points in the half. The pair was a combined 7-for-9 from the floor in the half.

Sorensen finished with a team-high 18 points while Thesing was 5-for-7 from the floor and finished with 16 points. The tandem was a part of four CC players to score in double figures. Alley Fisher came off the bench to add 14 points and sophomore center Alex Lippert had 10 points to go along with a game-high eight rebounds.  

The key for Concordia was their defense in the second half and their ability to control the area around the basket. Bethel torched the Cobbers at a 54.5% (12-for-22) clip from the floor in the first half. CC then tightened their defensive pressure and held the Royals to just 40.7% (11-for-27) in the second period.
The biggest statistical advantage came around the basket where Concordia used their height advantage to earn a 32-26 edge in rebounding and a 28-10 margin in points in the paint.

 Taylor Sheley had 15 of her game-high 20 points in the second half as she carried Bethel for most of the final period. Alicia Montbriand had 10 points and a team-high six rebounds for the Royals.   

Concordia started extremely slowly, giving up the first 11 points of the game. The Cobbers missed their first four shots and had three turnovers in the first 4:20 of play. CC would cut the lead to 13-9 before the Royals gradually pushed the margin back to 10 points at 31-21 with 3:17 to play in the opening half. Concordia would close out the first period by scoring five straight points to trail 31-26 at the break.

Bethel then scored six of the first eight points t grab a 37-28 lead with 18:38 to play. CC then trimmed the lead to one before the teams started to trade baskets for four straight minutes. Concordia finally seized control of the game in the final half of the second period. The Cobbers took their first lead with  11:14 to play and then pushed their lead to as many as five points with under 3:00 to play. Bethel then tied the game at 63-63 with a 6-1 run. Concordia put the ball in the hands of Thesing and cleared out for her to drive to the basket. After making her move and getting by her defender, she was fouled as she went to shoot the ball. Thesing then drained both free throws to earn the two-point win. She also finished off the game by stealing a pass from one of the bethel players after BU had inbounded the ball under their basket.

Concordia will take their winning ways on the road when they play at Carleton on Saturday, Feb. 4 at 1 p.m.