Musland Drains Eight Threes as Cobbers Cruise at Carleton

NORTHFIELD, Minn. (1/7/26) — Behind a career night from Molly Musland and a balanced scoring effort, Concordia-Moorhead cruised to a 78–50 conference win at Carleton on Wednesday night.

The win is the seventh straight for the Cobbers who move to 11-1 on the season in all games. The Cobbers are now 5-0 in conference play and in sole possession of first place after St. Mary's, the only other unbeaten team in the league, lost to Bethel on Wednesday. 

The Cobbers set the tone from the opening tip, pairing efficient shooting with defensive pressure to take a 21–16 lead after the first quarter. Concordia fell behind 9–0 early before Musland jump started the offense with a pair of three-pointers. Kaia Gack followed with a strong finish inside to cut the deficit to three at 11–8. Another Musland three tied the game at 11, and a Kaitlyn Rohloff jumper gave the Cobbers their first lead of the night. Concordia closed the opening quarter with momentum, highlighted by a late Gack layup to take a five-point advantage.

Concordia widened the gap in the second quarter, outscoring the Knights to carry a 40–23 lead into halftime. Carleton opened the period with early scoring to trim the deficit to three, but Alexa Snesrud answered with a three-pointer to halt the run. A layup from Genevieve Gruba and a pair of baskets from Maya Metcalf pushed the Cobbers into double figures at 31–20. Musland then drilled back-to-back threes to extend the lead to 37–20. After Carleton responded from deep, Tatum Findley connected on a three of her own, sending Concordia into the break with a 17-point cushion.

Carleton (5-7, 2-3 MIAC) opened the second half with the first five points before Maci Wheeldon stopped the run with a jumper. Metcalf continued to dominate inside, scoring twice in the paint to extend the Cobbers' lead to 49–31. Musland again knocked down consecutive three-pointers to push the advantage to 24. Carleton responded with a three and a layup, but a late Peyton Breidenbach triple gave Concordia a 62–37 lead entering the fourth quarter.

The fourth quarter opened at a slower pace, with both teams trading free throws early. Metcalf added a layup at the 7:44 mark to make it 66–38, and Musland followed with another three to stretch the lead to 69–40. Carleton answered with a pair of layups and a three to cut the deficit to 22, but baskets from Nora Roney, Findley, and Brooklyn Christianson sealed the outcome. A late layup from Christianson capped the scoring as the Cobbers closed out the 78–50 win.

Twelve Cobbers contributed to the scoring effort. Musland led the way with 24 points, shooting 8-of-12 from beyond the arc for a career-high eight three-pointers. Her eight made shots from outside the arc are one shy of the Cobber school record of nine which was set by Emily Beseman on Dec. 11, 2019 also against Carleton.  

Metcalf added 17 points and a team-high nine rebounds, while Taylor Safranski and Rohloff each dished out six assists.

Concordia returns to action Saturday, Jan. 10, when it travels to Saint Mary's.