Box Score Records
Upper Iowa (5-12, 4-9 NSIC) || Concordia (14-6, 9-4 NSIC)
Recap
Everything that could have gone wrong, did go wrong for the Upper Iowa Women's Basketball team in the first half of their matchup with visiting Concordia University on Friday night. UIU shot 26-percent from the floor as the Golden Bears jumped out to an 18-point lead.
But the Peacocks didn't give up. UIU battled back and tied the game five times in the second half.
Lauren Buck and
Carly Pagel both had 18 points and six rebounds, but timely CU buckets proved costly as UIU fell at home, 71-65, in NSIC action.
The Peacocks looked like they knew exactly what they wanted to do from the start. In the opening minute,
Lindsay Carroll controlled a pass from
Sam Thrapp and drained a three from the top of the key. She then stole a pass on the other end, but the Peacocks couldn't capitalize. In fact, they struggled to find the net for the next seven minutes as Concordia went on an 11-0 run. UIU started 2-of-14 from the floor as the hole they dug grew deeper.
UIU's second field goal of the game didn't come until the 12:30 mark as Buck hit a jumper in the lane which seemed to stop the Golden Bears' spurt. But Concordia responded with a drive, dish and layup followed by a three and two free throws.
Olivia Winkler hit a free throw before
Whitney Kieffer found the net for the first time midway through the opening period, but Concordia always found a response. This time, the Golden Bears' Ameshia Kearney drained a three forcing UIU to take a timeout.
Pagel scored the Peacocks next four points, but the visitors outmatched that thanks to five straight points from Kearney. Pagel went back to work and again found the net. First, she connected on two free throws. Then she hit her third field goal of the game, this one a 15-footer as UIU found a little momentum.
That bucket began a 7-0 UIU run that spanned a minute and a half, but even after a three-point play from Winkler, the Peacocks were still down by 11, 32-21. The teams closed the half on similar 4-0 runs with UIU closing the opening half with a jumper from Buck.
Down 36-25 at intermission, the Peacocks had one thing going for them in the first half. Pagel was red-hot and was drawing the attention of the Golden Bear defense. Pagel capitalized on that extra attention as she dished out both of her assists in the second half. Buck was the beneficiary of the first as she connected on a layup on the Peacocks' opening possession.
Buck hit another jumper after two free throws from Concordia to pull the Golden Bear lead within 10 points. Pagel then cut it to single digits with a layup in traffic.
Kearney hit another three for CU before the teams exchanged layups. The Peacocks went back to Pagel and she earned points 11 and 12 to keep UIU within nine points of their guests, 44-35, with 16 minutes to play. CU's Anika Whiting earned a three-point play before Thrapp answered with four straight points of her own.
The Golden Bears hit one more free throw before Pagel struck again. This time, her jumper slashed the deficit to just seven points, 48-41, with 12 minutes left. CU had another answer. The Golden Bears used the next 1:45 to outscore the Peacocks, 7-2.
That's when Buck kick-started a comeback. Using a Pagel screen, she hit a bomb from the top of the key before Kieffer earned her second steal of the game and converted the layup on the other end. The Golden Bears added a layup before Buck hit another three.
Pagel kept the run alive with back-to-back buckets, which pushed her total to 18 points. Buck then hit the 18-point plateau with her seventh field goal of the game. Her jump shot tied the game at 57-all with 6:55 remaining.
Twice over the next four minutes, Winkler tied the game. Her first bucket tied it at 60-60 and her second tied the game at 62-62 with 2:45 left in the game. The Peacocks tied the game one final time after CU drained a three as Carroll hit her own bomb from downtown with 1:23 on the clock. Unfortunately for the Peacocks, that was as close as they would come to earning the upset victory at home.
The Golden Bears scored the final six points of the night and hit their final four free throws to steal a 71-65 away from home. With the win, Concordia improves to 9-4 in the NSIC this year, while the Peacocks fall to 4-9 in conference play.
UIU Standouts
Pagel (18 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists), Buck (18 points, 6 rebounds), Winkler (10 points, 2 rebounds), Thrapp (8 points, 4 assists, 3 rebounds, 2 steals), Carroll (7 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist)
Up Next
The Peacocks will look to bounce back tomorrow night as they host the Mavericks of Minnesota State at 4 p.m. inside Dorman Gym.
