Middle Quarters Costly
Concordia outscored St. Benedict in the first and fourth quarters but the middle periods cost the Cobbers a chance at winning their fifth straight.
ST. JOSEPH, MINN. (1/09/16)—Concordia held a combined edge in points in the first and fourth quarters but that paled in comparison to the big gap St. Benedict put up in the second and third periods.
The Blazers used a 23-point margin in the middle periods to come away with a 64-44 win over the Cobbers.
The loss ends Concordia's four-game win streak and is only the second conference loss of the year for CC. The Cobbers are now 8-5 overall and 4-2 in the MIAC. They are one of five teams tied for second place in the league standings. St. Ben's is also in the logjam at 4-2. The Blazers win for the second straight game and are now 9-4 overall.
The teams started slowly and combined for only 14 points in the first quarter. The Cobbers shot 23.1% (3-for-13) in the opening 10 minutes of play and CSB was only two shots better at 4-for-13 (30.8%).
Trailing 8-6 heading into the second quarter, Concordia had the bottom drop out as they were outscored 28-15 in the second 10-minute period and then 20-10 in the third frame.
Concordia picked up its shooting touch in the second quarter by connecting on 40.0% (6-for-15) of their shots from the floor but it was the Blazers' red-hot 11-for-13 (84.6%) touch that opened up the game.
The decisive run came with 6:33 left in the period. The Cobbers only trailed by two points at 16-14 but then St. Ben's went on an 18-4 run which led to a 36-21 lead at the half.
The third quarter was more of the same with CSB shooting 60.0% (6-for-10) and Concordia shooting 28.6% (2-for-7).
The Cobbers finished the game by shooting 30.2% (16-for-53) from the field and 20.0% (3-for-15) from outside the arc. It is only the second time all season that CC has made less than 17 field goals in a game. And on both occasions Concordia ended up losing.
Jenna Januschka led all players with 13 points. It is the seventh straight game she has scored in double figures. Januschka was the only Cobber player with more than eight points.
Junior Crystal Amundson had a season-high eight rebounds while Olivia Johnson had three assists.
WHAT'S NEXT
Concordia will stay on the road for a pair of road games next week. CC finishes off a three-game road trip by playing at league-leading St. Mary's on Wednesday and then at Macalester on Saturday.