Concordia received substantial contributions from opposite ends of the spectrum Monday at Memorial Auditorium - a 6-foot-4 freshman center and a 5-7 senior point.
Alexandra Lippert scored 18 points and grabbed seven rebounds and Erica Nord scored 16 points and dished out seven assists.
Their performances helped spark the Cobbers to a 78-49 victory against
St. Mary's in Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference women's basketball.
"We have been working on balancing the offense more ... and finding open looks whether it's inside or outside," said Lippert, a first-year player from Willmar, Minn. "We're making it happen."
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The Cobbers (14-5, 12-4 MIAC) have won six of their last seven games. Their lone blip was a 59-53 home loss against Gustavus on Saturday.
"We just played with more energy today because everybody on our team can be a scorer potentially so we're tough to guard," Nord said. "Saturday, we were kind of flat and today everyone was ready to go."
The Cobbers had three other players score in double digits to join Lippert and Nord. Senior wings Maggie Bauernfeind and Lindsey Schultz added 12 and 11 points, respectively. Sophomore forward Tricia Sorensen poured in 10 points off the bench.
"We talked about individual defense and containing their drives," said
St. Mary's coach Mandy Pearson, who played at Concordia. "They like to attack kick and get your defense scrambling a little bit and we struggled with that. Our scramble defense wasn't very good."
Concordia gradually started to pull away in the first 20 minutes.
The Cobbers had three different runs of eight consecutive points in the first half to help build a 39-27 halftime lead.
Lippert capped the third eight-spot with a putback basket that staked Concordia to a 37-23 lead with
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1 minute, 33 seconds remaining in the first half. That was the largest Concordia lead in the first half.
Lippert helped the Cobbers grow that lead in the final 20 minutes, scoring 12 points in the second half on 6-for-9 shooting from the field. Lippert scored all of her second-half points from close range.
"We were going to play behind her, but we wanted to push her outside the paint and that didn't happen," Pearson said. "She was catching right on the block where she is most successful."
Lippert, who is averaging 8.9 points per game, scored in double digits for the ninth time this season. She finished three points off her career high.
"I think my offense has developed more," said Lippert, who is averaging 3.5 blocks per game. "Defense is my favorite, but it's always good to get some points, too. I think I'm getting more confident playing out there and being more aggressive."
ST. MARY'S (10-8, 8-7 MIAC): Begrowicz 0-1 0-0 0, Kaminski 3-4 0-0 6, Kulig 3-7 2-2 9, Thone 2-11 2-2 7, Miller 8-15 4-5 20, Pecarina 0-0 0-0 0, Keefe 0-1 0-0 0, Robatcek 0-2 0-1 0, Athnos 1-3 0-0 2, A. Bauernfeind 0-0 0-0 0, DeWitt 1-4 0-0 3, Eckberg 1-2 0-0 2, Euerle 0-5 0-0 0. Totals 19-55 8-10 49.
CONCORDIA (14-5, 12-4): Schultz 4-8 3-4 11, Lippert 9-16 0-0 18, B. Jossart 0-5 2-2 2, Nord 7-15 1-2 16, M. Bauernfeind 3-5 4-4 12, E. Jossart 0-0 0-0 0, Vance 0-0 0-0 0, Herbranson 1-1 0-0 3, Thesing 1-5 0-0 2, Sorensen 4-7 0-0 10, Lymburner 0-0 0-0 0, Walloch 0-1 2-2 2, Demmer 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 30-64 12-14 78.
Half: CC 39, SM 27. 3-point goals: SM 3-17 (Begrowicz 0-1, Kaminski 0-1, Kulig 1-3, Thone 1-7, Miller 0-2, Robatcek 0-1, DeWitt 1-2), CC 6-19 (Schultz 0-1, B. Jossart 0-3, Nord 1-4, M. Bauernfeind 2-3, Herbranson 1-1, Thesing 0-4, Sorensen 2-3). Total fouls: SM 14, CC 11. Rebounds: SM 33 (Miller 7), CC 40 (Lippert 7). Assists: SM 11 (Kulig 3, Thone 3), CC 13 (Nord 7). Steals: SM 6 (Kaminski 2, Kulig 2), CC 8 (B. Jossart 3). Turnovers: SM 17 (Kaminski 3, Miller 3), CC 11 (M. Bauernfeind 3).
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Eric Peterson at (701) 241-5513.
Peterson's blog can be found
at peterson.areavoices.com
