MOORHEAD, Minn. (12/29/10)– The streak is over. Concordia’s six-game unbeaten streak to start the 2010-11 season is officially over. The Cobbers fell behind by 20 points early in the second half against UW-River Falls and staged a late-game rally but unfortunately came up one point short in their bid to win a record-setting seven straight games to start a season.

The Cobbers missed a chance to win the game in final :15 seconds of play and lost 63-62 to the Falcons. Concordia senior Lindsey Schultz had a game-high 156 points and freshman Alexandra Lippert had seven blocks. The Falcons had three players finish in double figures and were led by Brittany Gregorich who finished with 14 points and a game-high eight rebounds.  

Concordia was outscored 46-27 in the first half and then gave the first point of the second half to trail by 20 with just over 19:00 to play in the game. The Cobbers then whittled away at the lead and got to within one point with 4:50 left in the second half. CC then had  a chance to win the game after forcing a missed shot with :15 to play but a 3-point field goal attempt by Tricia Sorensen was off the mark and the subsequent loose-ball scrum never allowed the Cobbers a clear attempt in the dying seconds.

The Cobbers held UW-River Falls to just 17 points in the second half which included a 10:50 stretch where the Falcons did not connect on a single field goal attempt. Concordia’s defense limited River Falls to just 21.7% (5-for-23) shooting from the field in the final 20 minutes.

Unfortunately for Concordia the first half was the complete opposite as the Cobbers were still in Christmas vacation mode and the Falcon full-court pressure defense held CC to just 28.6% (8-for-28) shooting from the floor and 11.1% (1-for-9) from outside the arc. Concordia committed seven turnovers in the first half and was bothered by the full-court press.

Concordia turned the game around in the second half and was able to connect on field goals after fast-break attempts and keep the Falcons off the boards. The difference in the second half led to an 18-point difference and a chance to pull out the win in the final seconds.      

Besides the 16 points from Schultz, three other CC starters finished in double figures in scoring. Schultz also had a team-high seven rebounds in the game. Erica Nord, who played only seven minutes in the first half due to foul trouble, finished with 13 points. Lippert added 11 points to go with her seven blocks. She has now had at least five blocks in three of the last four games. Maggie Bauernfeind added 10 points as the Cobber starters accounted for 56 of the team’s 62 points.

Alise Holst and Taylor House combined for 21 points in the game for the Falcons. Holst had 11 points and six rebounds while House scored 10 points and matched Gregorich’s team-high eight bounds.

Concordia will now finish off the 2010-11 season against MIAC opponents. The Cobbers will head back to conference play when they host Macalester on Monday, Jan. 3 at 5:45 p.m

Bigger, faster, stronger” was the way Falcon mentor Stacey Brunner-Jones described the UW-River Falls team that defeated her Concordia squad Saturday evening.

“We battled,” said Brunner-Jones, “but we did not play smart down the stretch at all.” 

CUW trailed 33-28 at the half and the deficit remained from 5-7 points until River Falls outscored Concordia 12-2 over the final five minutes.

Freshman Katie Luethe led Concordia (now 6-5 on the season) with 13 points but the winners’ Taylor House dominated play with 24 points and 7 rebounds.