> Box ScoreMARSHALL, Minn. – Concordia-St. Paul had a big second half to defeat Southwest Minnesota State, 80-64 in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference women's basketball Friday night in the R/A Facility.
SMSU (3-22, 3-18 NSIC) finished shooting 44 percent from the field and 37 percent from behind the arc.
Lauren Hedlund led the Mustangs with 17 points on 7 of 14 shooting.
Emilee Duske cashed in 14 points on 6 of 11 from the floor. Both Duske and Hedlund led with eight rebounds each.
CU (15-12, 11-10 NSIC) finished shooting 43 percent from the floor as Ameshia Kearney scored a team-high 27 points. Anika Whiting added 21 points for the Golden Bears including six rebounds. Kyrah Fredenburg made her mark with six rebounds.
Southwest Minnesota State started the game with confidence, as they jumped out to a 10-3 lead after five minutes of play.
Abby Connell cashed in a 3-pointer with 14:36 left in the half to increase the Mustangs lead to nine.
The Golden Bears would cut the Mustang lead down to four points over the next two minutes but Hedlund would score the next seven points for SMSU to keep the Mustangs up 21-12 with 10:31 left in the half.
SMSU pushed its lead to the largest of the game after a 3-pointer by Connell at 7:51 to lead 26-14.
CU went on a 15-3 run over the next five minutes to diminish the Mustangs lead and went on to lead by two with just 2:05 left in the first. The Golden Bears led, 34-33 going into half time.
After halftime, CU continued on its run as it went on a 12-2 run to lead 46-37 with 16:32 left.
The Mustang then came back with a 9-0 run to tie the game up at 46-46 with 13:03 left to play in the game.
SMSU started to struggle as the CU gained the lead and pushed its lead by as many as 14, that was keyed by a Lauren Shifflett 3-pointer at 11:01.
The Golden Bears held control going down the stretch and held off the Mustangs to earn the victory.
