Outfitted For A Win
Concordia outscored St. Olaf 43-25 in the second half and rallied to post a 67-61 win over the Oles.
MOORHEAD, Minn. (1/06/22)---You knew the dam was eventually going to burst. The Cobbers had been ice cold from the outside for most of the 2021-22 season, but that all changed in the second half against St. Olaf. The Cobbers went 4-for-8 from outside the arc in the final 20 minutes of play, erased a 12-point halftime lead and outsprinted the Oles to the finish line for a 67-61 win.
Concordia outscored St. Olaf 43-25 in the second half on Thursday. The 43 points are the most by CC in a single half this season.
The victory snaps a 6-game losing slide for the Cobbers. CC is now 2-7 overall with both wins coming in the friendly confines of Memorial Auditorium. Concordia is 2-5 in conference play, and only a game back of a 3-way tie for sixth place in the league standings.
St. Olaf (3-7, 2-5 MIAC) outscored the Cobbers 19-12 in the first quarter and 17-12 in the second period of play to grab a 36-24 lead at the halftime break. Concordia shot only 20.0% (2-for-10) from distance in the opening half. CC shot an identical 5-for-18 (27.8%) from the floor in each of the first two quarters of their first home game of 2022.
The game changed with just over 7-minutes to play in the third quarter. The Cobbers trailed by 14 points, but proceeded to go on a 16-5 run over a span of five minutes to cut the lead to only three points at 43-40. The Oles fought off Concordia's attempt to take the lead at the end of the third quarter, but couldn't stop the rising waters in the final period of play.
The Oles pushed the lead to seven points in the first minute of the fourth, but CC responded with a 9-2 stretch to tie the game at 51-51 with &;17 to play in regulation.
A corner 3-point basket by senior Autumn Thompson at the 2:30 mark of the period gave Concordia its first lead since the opening minutes of the game. Jordyn Kahler would drain another 3-point field goal and junior Emily Beseman made four straight free throws down the stretch to seal the victory.
Concordia finished the game by shooting 39.1% (25-for-64) from the floor and 33.3% (6-for-18) from 3-point range. Their outside shooting percentage tied the second-best mark of the season for CC. The only other time they shot 33.3% from outside the arc came in their other win of the year at home against St. Catherine.
St. Olaf held a 40-36 edge in rebounding for the game. Concordia outscored the Oles 26-20 in points in the paint and 19-2 in points off of turnovers as CC forced 15 miscues – and only committed eight of their own.
The other big difference in the game came from the play of the Cobber reserve players. The CC bench outscored its counterparts 27-8. Freshman Makayla Anderson posted a season-high 10 points and a team-high eight rebounds, and Kahler added nine points and seven boards off the bench.
Senior Mary Sem led all players with 19 points. She was 8-for-15 from the floor and also added three rebounds and three assists.
Beseman was the third Concordia player in double figures in scoring. She went 2-for-4 from the arc and finished with 10 points.
Thompson had her best outside shooting game in league play this year. She went 3-for-6 from distance and finished with nine points.
UP NEXT: Concordia will stay at home and host St. Scholastica on Saturday, Jan. 8 at 1 p.m. The Saints, who are still searching for their first win of the season, are 0-9 overall and 0-7 in the MIAC.
CONCORDIA vs. ST. OLAF HIGHLIGHTS
