Upper Iowa took to the hardwood in the Gangelhoff Center on the campus of Concordia University this afternoon for a rare Northern Sun Conference Sunday matinee. The Peacocks were outscored 20-7 over the final nine minutes of the first half as the Golden Bears opened up a big lead heading to the locker room at halftime. The sixteen-point deficit proved to be too much to overcome as the Peacocks lost the conference tilt, 77-54, to fall to 1-12 overall and 1-8 in the NSIC.

 

The Peacocks matched the Golden Bears early on offense, but a short 4-0 run gave the home team a 15-8 lead with 11:33 on the clock. Upper Iowa rallied with a 6-2 run of their own to pull within three, 17-14, with 9:14 to play in the half. Concordia turned up the defense and forced 9 UIU turnovers over the final nine minutes while pouring in 20 points to take a 37-21 lead into the break.

 

The lead grew to as many as thirty points, 60-30, midway through the second half, but a 9-3 run by the road team cut the margin back to twenty-four, 63-39. The run was fueled by five points from Lana Otting. The teams played evenly over the final quarter of the game as the Golden Bears claimed the 77-54 victory.

 

Upper Iowa shot 37% from the floor and only hit 2 of 16 three-point attempts. The Peacocks did convert 14 of their 17 attempts from the charity stripe.

 

The Peacocks were led on offense by Cassandra Deiters, who scored 12 points, and Jeri Jacobson, who netted 8. Jen Herrick handed out 4 assists, while Deiters blocked 3 shots and Jacobson snared 3 steals.

 

The Peacocks will return home next weekend for a pair of Northern Sun Conference games. Upper Iowa will host MSU Moorhead on Friday and Minnesota, Crookston on Saturday; both games are scheduled to tip at 6 p.m.