Tuned Up And Ready For The MIAC
Concordia outscored St. Scholastica 43-31 in the second half and cruised to an 84-68 win in their final game before starting MIAC play.
DULUTH, Minn. (11/30/15)—Paced by Olivia Johnson's career-high 23 points and Hannah Jeske's career-high 11 assists, Concordia raced past St. Scholastica in the second half and cruised to an 84-68 win in Duluth.
The Cobbers outscored the Saints 21-10 in the third quarter and 43-31 in the final half of play to record their second straight win and third overall victory of the season. CC is now 3-2 on the year as they enter conference play. St. Scholastica falls for the fifth straight game and is now 1-5 for the season.
Concordia fell behind 4-0 and then 7-2 at the start of the game before finding their way offensively and going on a 9-3 stretch to take an 11-10 lead with 4:49 left in the first quarter. The Cobbers would lead for the rest of the game except for a 15-second stretch toward the end of the opening period.
The Cobbers scored six of the final eight points in the period to take a 22-19 lead into the second quarter and then steadily built on their lead until it reached double digits at the 6:44 mark of the period. The lead would stay steady until the final 1:35 of the first half when the Saints scored the last six points of the period. Concordia went into the halftime break holding onto a four-point lead at 41-37.
The third quarter was all Concordia as they went on a 11-0 run after St. Scholastica had cut the margin to a single point. The Cobbers led 52-40 midway through the frame and then pushed the lead to 15 points by the end of the third quarter.
Concordia put the game out of reach by scoring the first nine points in the final period of play and going on a 14-2 streak to take a 27-point lead at 76-49 with 6:36 left in the game.
The Cobbers finished the second half by shooting 55.2% (16-for-29) from the floor and 60.0% (3-for-5) from 3-point range.
For the game Concordia shot 48.4% (31-for-64) from the field as compared to 42.3% (22-for-52) for the Saints. Both teams made eight shots from outside the arc.
Concordia held a 40-29 edge in rebounding and was also a plus-5 in the turnover margin. CC used 18 Scholastica miscues to score 24 points. The height advantage inside also led to a large 44-24 advantage in points in the paint.
The Cobbers had three players score in double figures. Besides the team-high 23 points from Johnson, Jenna Januschka put up 14 of her 16 points in the second half while guard Greta Walsh was 3-for-7 from distance and finished with 11 points.
Januschka also added a game-high eight rebounds. Johnson came away with six rebounds and added three steals.
Jeske had six points, four rebounds and two steals to go along with her career-high 11 assists.
SECOND HALF STARS
Concordia has scored at least 43 points in second half of play in three of the five games this season. The Cobbers are outscoring their opponents by a combined total of 190-164 in the second half of games this year. CC's biggest advantage comes in the third period where they hold a 14-point edge at 91-77.
JUMPING FOR JOHNSON
Olivia Johnson has now scored at least 17 points in four of the five games this year. She is averaging 16.6 points per game which is currently fifth highest in the MIAC.
JUMPING FOR JESKE
Hannah Jeske has had at least three assists in three straight games and is averaging 4.4 helpers in the five games this year. She is third in the MIAC in assists per game. Her 11 assists vs. Scholastica is the most by a CC player since the beginning of last year when Alley Fisher dropped 12 dimes on Mayville State.
WHAT'S NEXT
Concordia opens up MIAC play when they host No.9-ranked St. Thomas on Wednesday, Dec. 2 at 7 p.m. The game will be held at Alex Nemzek Fieldhouse at MSU Moorhead. The Tommies are currently 5-0 on the season.