Gustavus Game 2 Recap

Courtesy of GoCobbers.com, Release: January 25

Gustavus Box Score - Now Online!

Gameday Scoring Summary

Team	1st Half	2nd Half	Final
Gustavus	31	32	63
Concordia	25	40	65

Gameday Action Pictures

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For a complete Cobber women's basketball photo gallery from the 2005-06 season please go to:

www.cord.edu/dept/sports/photo/wbb/index.html

Gameday Game Recap

MOORHEAD, Minn. -- Up front and to the left in the car. That is where you find the driver's seat and that is where Concordia has positioned themselves after their 65-63 victory over Gustavus on Wednesday in Moorhead. The Cobbers' win puts them alone at the top of the MIAC standings.

Concordia is now 10-2 in the MIAC and a full game ahead of both Gustavus and St. Ben's, who beat St. Olaf 77-50 on Wednesday. Both the Gusties and Blazers have identical 9-3 records in league play. The Cobbers are now 12-4 overall, while Gustavus sees their seven-game winning streak come to an end and falls to 11-4.

Melanie Hageman continued to tear through the top posts in the league. In her battle with Co-MIAC Player of the Week Bri Monahan, Hageman finished with a game-high 17 points and seven rebounds as compared to only 11 points and four rebounds for Monahan. Monahan entered the game averaging 20 points and 7.1 rebounds.

Sarah Krabbenhoft and Tori Ehlert helped the Cobber frontcourt gain control in the second half. Both players finished with 10 points and four rebounds.

Gustie guard Jess Vadnais had a team-high 13 points and Emily Nelson came off the bench to match Monahan's point total of 11. Nelson also hit a pair of clutch 3-point shots down the stretch for Gustavus

Gustavus came out and played like they were ready to run away and hide. The Gusties scored the first 13 points in the game and forced the Cobbers into 10 turnovers in the first 8:30 minutes of the game. During that open stretch, Concordia was able to only put up two shots against a hustling, determined Gustavus defense.

The Cobbers finally broke onto the scoreboard with a 3-point field goal by freshman Jessica Heintz. Heintz scored the first field goal for Concordia and in the end, would finish the game off by hitting a 12-foot jumper with :05 left on the clock to give the Cobbers the two-point victory.

Concordia cut the lead to eight at 15-7, but the Gusties were able to hold off the Cobbers in the first half by getting 12 points from guard Jess Vadnais and causing Concordia to turn the ball over 14 times.

The run of the game might have come at the end of the first half when Concordia went on a 5-0 run to take an 11-point deficit and closing to within six at 31-25.

In the second half, with the referees calling the game extremely close, Hageman was able to get on track by connecting on free throws and being able to get the ball in the low block. After scoring only two points and going 0-of-2 from the field in the first 20 minutes, she broke free to finish the game with 17 points and was 5-of-7 from the floor in the final 20 minutes.

Concordia slowly whittled away at the lead after Gustavus pushed the margin to nine points at 40-31 with 16:21 remaining in the game. In the next nine minutes, the Cobbers went on a 15-5 run and led for the first time all game when Hageman hit on tow free throws to make the score 46-45.

Gustavus countered with a 6-0 run to take a 51-46 lead. The Cobbers regained the lead with a layup from Emily Swierenga at 4:52 to make the score 56-55.

Concordia appeared to take control of the game in the final minutes as they built the lead to five at 62-57 with just over two minutes to play.

Emily Nelson, who had only connected on nine 3-point field goals all season, proceeded to hit a pair of long-range shots to tie the score at 63-63 to set up the late-game heroics.

Concordia head coach Jessica Rahman called a timeout with :24 remaining on the game clock and :23 on the shot clock. The Cobbers then played around between the circles before Heintz found herself 1-on-1 at the top of the key with time winding down. Heintz faked right and the Gustavus defender tried for the steal. She then pushed the ball around the defender to the left side, took three dribbles and pulled up for the open jumper from the free throw line. Her shot was good from the monet it left her hand and went through cleanly with :05 to play.

The Gusties called timeout to set up a play that would travel the length of the floor and get a look at the basket. After the teams took the floor, Rahman called a Concordia timeout after seeing the Gustavus offensive lineup. The Cobbers then double playmaker Vadnais and Gustavus was forced to inbound the ball to another option.

The Gusties were unable to get the ball in cleanly and were never able to get a shot off in the final seconds of play.

Concordia will go on the road for a tough back-to-back conference away series. The Cobbers will play at St. Olaf on Saturday, Jan. 28 at 1:00pm and then travel to Winona, Minn. to take on St. Mary's on Sunday, Jan. 29 at 1:00pm. Both games can be heard live via the internet at: www.cord.edu/dept/sports/broadcast.php.