MARSHALL, Minn. – The Southwest Minnesota State women's basketball team dropped a heartbreaker on Friday night, losing 62-60 to the Concordia-St. Paul Golden Bears inside the R/A Facility.
Jenna Borchers led all scorers with 21 points, shooting 6 of 9 from the field, 5 of 6 from beyond the arc, and 4 of 4 from the free throw line. She also added five rebounds and a pair of assists.
Sam Wall added nine points,
Bri Stoltzman tallied nine points, five rebounds, two assists, and four steals, and
Peyton Blandin scored nine on 3 of 6 shooting from deep, leading the team with three assists.
Madison Gehloff and
Hannah Parsley led the effort on the glass, grabbing six rebounds apiece.
SMSU, now 7-4 on the season and 4-2 in NSIC action, shot 32.1 percent (18 of 56) from the field and 43.5 percent (10 of 23) from three, while CSP, 6-4 and 3-3 NSIC, shot 47.2 percent from the field and did not make a three pointer in eight attempts.
CSP won the game on the glass (43-32 rebounding advantage), with its depth (29-14 in bench points), and in the paint (46-16 in points in the paint).
The Mustangs were hot out of the gate, scoring the first seven points, 12 of the first 14 points, and 19 of the first 30 points to take a 19-11 lead with 3:21 to go in the first quarter. SMSU shot 8 of 11 to open the game, with Borchers scoring eight points in the segment.
The shooting would chill for SMSU, going 0 of 3 to end the quarter while CSP finished on a 7-0 run to trail 19-18 into the second quarter.
Borchers halted the run with a three-pointer to open the second quarter scoring, but eight straight Golden Bear points gave them a 26-22 lead with 6:08 to go in the half.
After the teams traded a pair of free throws, Stoltzman sandwiched a CSP layup with two layups of her own, and Wall drilled a three pointer to cap a 7-2 run and give the Mustangs a 31-30 lead with 35 seconds to go.
CSP wouldn't go into the half quietly, making a layup just before the buzzer to take a 32-31 lead into the locker room.
The Golden Bears opened the second half with the first four points, and after a pair of Mustang threes to give them the lead, CSP went on an 8-2 run to take a 44-39 lead with 3:53 to go in the third quarter.
The Mustangs countered with a 6-0 run to take a 45-44 lead with 2:53 left before a rock fight brought the score to 48-46 heading to the fourth quarter.
CSP eclipsed its largest lead with 6:19 to go in the game, opening the quarter on a 6-0 run to lead 54-46.
A 10-2 Mustang run followed, with a pair of Wall free throws evening the game at 56-56.
Each team knocked down four free throws to keep the game square at 60-60, but a Golden Bear layup with 22 seconds left would prove to be the difference.
Each team got their chances at the end, with a Mustang turnover, CSP offensive foul, SMSU offensive foul and CSP turnover occurring in the final 14 seconds, but the Mustangs couldn't get a shot off in the final four seconds, ending the two-point contest.
The Mustangs host Minnesota State on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. in their final home game of 2022.
