Wild-Caught
Concordia ran into a hot-shooting Wildcat team and lost 78-64.
ST. PAUL, Minn. (2/17/16)—Concordia ran into a hot shooting St. Kate's team and lost 78-64 in St. Paul. The Wildcats shot 54.5% (30-for-55) from the floor and 43.8% (7-for-16) from 3-point range to beat the Cobbers for the first time since the MIAC postseason in 2010.
A 12-2 run at the end of the second quarter and a 9-2 run midway through the third period proved to be the difference in Concordia's eighth loss of the season. The Cobbers are now 16-8 in all games and 12-5 in MIAC play. The defeat locks Concordia into the No.4 seed for the upcoming conference tournament which means the Cobbers will host Bethel in the quarterfinals of the league playoffs on Tuesday, Feb. 23 at 7 p.m.
St. Catherine wins for the fourth straight game and is now 13-11 overall and 7-10 in the MIAC.
Concordia never led in the game. The Wildcats took a 2-0 lead before the Cobbers tied the game for the lone time with a layup from Jenna Januschka. St. Kate's would then score 11 of the next 13 points to grab a 13-4 lead with 6:27 left in the opening period.
The Cobbers would chase the game from that point forward. CC cut the lead to three at 15-12 on a 3-pointer from Olivia Johnson but St. Kate's responded with an 11-4 stretch at the end of the first quarter to take a 26-16 lead.
Concordia once again cut the lead to three points in the first four minutes of the second period but then the first of the two decisive Wildcat runs gave them a 13-point lead with 1:41 left to play in the first half.
CC would claw its way back to get to within eight points as Johnson hit the second of her two long-range shots in the game. A basket on the next possession gave the Wildcats the double-digit lead against and then Jamie Mentzer got loose for a layup to once again get the Cobbers within eight points.
That would be the last time CC would be within 10 points. St. Kate's went on its second game-changing streak and stretched the lead to 19 points by the end of the third quarter.
Concordia tried to cut into the margin but each time St. Kate's was able to come up with a key field goal or get to the line after a foul.
ON FIRE
Senior Olivia Johnson has rediscovered her scoring touch. After having back-to-back games of under nine points, Johnson has put together three straight double-digit scoring contests. She finished with 21 points against the Wildcats on a 9-of-16 shooting performance. It is the second time in the last three games she has scored at least 20 points. Johnson also added a team-high seven rebounds and added three assists.
ON FIRE 2
Jenna Januschka missed only two shots the entire game. She went 9-for-11 from the field and 1-for-1 from the free throw line and had 19 points. Januschka also matched John's rebound total at seven. She is now averaging a team-best 14.8 points per game and has a 52.0% field goal percentage. Her field goal percentage is third best in the MIAC.
FEELING IT
Senior Katie Rosenfeldt went 4-for-10 and finished with nine points. She also had four rebounds. The 10 field goal attempts is a career high. Her previous career high was nine and came against St. Olaf when she had nine.
WHAT'S NEXT
Concordia will finish off the regular season when they host Macalester on Saturday, Feb. 20 at 3 p.m. The Scots are 8-16 overall and 3-14 in the MIAC and have lost eight of their last nine games. CC beat Macalester 63-50 in St. Paul in the middle of January.