With the victory, Concordia breaks the tie for fifth place in the MIAC with the Royals. The Cobbers are now 5-3 in league play and only .5 game behind fourth place St. Mary's. Concordia won their third straight game and improves their overall record to 7-4. The Royals get knocked back to .500 in both the MIAC and overall. Bethel is now 4-4 in the conference and 6-6 in all games.
Concordia used a balanced scoring attack to down the Royals. Four the five starting players for the Cobbers scored in double figures. Jamie Visness, Tori Ehlert and Melanie Hageman each had 13 points and Mandy Pearson chipped in another 12. Ehlert continues to provide Concordia with a legitimate inside scoring presence. She finished the game with 13 points and seven rebounds, which are identical to her totals from Wednesday's game against Augsburg.
Heather Davis led all scorers for Bethel. The sophomore post player had 19 points and six assists. JoLynn Thielke finished the game with 15 points and a game-high nine rebounds. Jen Ahlberg, the nation's leading 3-point shooter entering the game, was held to only one 3-point basket for the entire 40 minutes.
Both teams entered the game with similar statistics and the will to play a similar game style. The Cobbers and Royals both wanted to push the ball quickly up the court and take advantage of their outside shooting. Bethel capitalized on their game plan in the first half as they shot 50% (4-of-8) from 3-point range and jumped to a 31-28 lead at the break.
Concordia rallied at the start of the second half. The Cobbers opened the final period by scoring the first six points and grabbing a 34-31 lead. They extended the margin to 44-37 at the 13:16 mark before Bethel stormed back and reeled off a 11-3 run to grab the lead at 48-47 with 9:36 left to go in the game.
Ehlert made the next basket to regain the lead at 49-47 and Concordia never looked back. The Cobbers never relinquished the lead from that point on and at one time pushed the margin back to seven points at 67-60.
Concordia will turn around and play at St. Thomas on Monday, January 17 at 5:30pm. The Cobbers will then return home to play Hamline on Wednesday, January 19 at 5:30pm. The game against the Pipers will mark the halfway point of the conference season. Both games can be heard live on 1280AM "The Fan" radio in the Fargo-Moorhead area and via the internet at www.gocobbers.com.
Newspaper Box Score Bethel University vs Concordia College 01/15/05 1:00 at Moorhead, MN/Memorial Auditorium At Moorhead, MN/Memorial Auditorium CONCORDIA COLLEGE 68, BETHEL UNIVERSITY 62 BETHEL UNIVERSITY (4-4 MIAC/6-6) Heather Davis 8-14 2-4 19; JoLynn Thielke 5-9 2-2 15; Jen Ahlberg 3-10 3-4 10; Emily Uzpen 3-8 0-0 9; Kayla Shumpski 1-4 2-2 4; Molly Daniels 1-4 0-0 3; Betsy Stevens 1-1 0-0 2; Bridget Weber 0-2 0-0 0; Liz Glesne 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 22-53 9-12 62. CONCORDIA COLLEGE (5-3 MIAC/7-4) Jamie Visness 5-13 0-0 13; Tori Ehlert 6-10 1-3 13; Melanie Hageman 4-7 5-7 13; Mandy Pearson 5-15 2-2 12; Leanne White 3-6 0-0 6; Anne Keeley 1-9 3-4 6; Karie Visness 1-4 3-4 5; Amanda Levos 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 25-65 14-20 68. Bethel University............. 31 31 - 62 Concordia College............. 28 40 - 68 3-point goals-Bethel University 9-17 (JoLynn Thielke 3-6; Emily Uzpen 3-3; Heather Davis 1-2; Molly Daniels 1-1; Jen Ahlberg 1-2; Kayla Shumpski 0-3), Concordia College 4-15 (Jamie Visness 3-6; Anne Keeley 1-4; Mandy Pearson 0-3; Karie Visness 0-1; Tori Ehlert 0-1). Fouled out--Bethel University-None, Concordia College-None. Rebounds-Bethel University 30 (JoLynn Thielke 9), Concordia College 35 (Tori Ehlert 7). Assists-Bethel University 15 (Jen Ahlberg 6), Concordia College 15 (Mandy Pearson 9). Total fouls-Bethel University 15, Concordia College 13.