The Peacock women's basketball team was back on the court Saturday evening less than 20 hours after their overtime loss to Minnesota State University, Mankato on Friday night. Upper Iowa came out strong against the Golden Bears of Concordia University, St. Paul, but the visitors opened up a six-point lead, 34-28, at halftime and then controlled the action in the second half to post a 75-62 win in Fayette. UIU falls to 3-6 on the year and 1-4 in the conference, while CU improved to 6-4 overall and 2-2 in the NSIC.
Aleesha Cleaver led the Peacocks with 22 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists.
Lindsay Carroll netted 15 points and added 3 assists, while
Olivia Winkler recorded 7 points and 7 rebounds.
Lauren Buck struggled from the field, but still pulled down 12 rebounds and blocked 3 shots.
The Golden Bears' five starters all scored in double figures ranging from 11 to 16 points led by Caitlyn Russell.
Upper Iowa and Concordia matched each other point for point through the first ten minutes. A triple from the Golden Bears at the 9:45 mark tied the game at 20-20, but UIU's offense went cold for the remainder of the half scoring only 8 points leading into halftime. The Peacocks suffered through a drought that lasted over nine minutes without a field goal and only one made free throw during that time. While the UIU offense struggled, the Golden Bears scored 12 to take a 32-21 lead with less than two minutes to go. Cleaver scored five points in the final five minutes to pull the Peacocks back within six at the break.
Concordia opened the second half with a 12-4 run to extend their lead to fourteen, 46-32. The lead continued to grow to twenty-one points, 67-46, with 6:36 to play as the Golden Bears continued to frustrate the Peacock offense. Upper Iowa dug down and used a 12-0 run to climb back into the game and cut the gap to nine, 67-58, with two and a half minutes to play. The run was fueled by nine points from Cleaver and three from Carroll. Upper Iowa was unable to drop the margin any lower as Concordia pushed the lead back into double digits at the final buzzer, 75-62.
The Golden Bears dominated the paint claiming a 40-22 advantage in points in the paint and also got out in transition to the tune of a 12-2 advantage in fastbreak points.
Upper Iowa will play at home again next Saturday, Dec. 20. The Peacocks will host the Winona State University Warriors at 4 p.m. in Dorman.
