Upper Iowa hosted the Golden Bears of Concordia University, St. Paul on Saturday afternoon for Senior Day and the regular season finale in Dorman Gymnasium. The Golden Bears jumped out to an early lead and never let go on the way to an 88-65 win over the Peacocks. CSP shot 55.0 percent from the field and dominated the glass with a 40-23 advantage to improve to 21-6 overall and 17-5 against conference foes, a record that gave the Golden Bears the NSIC South Division title. Upper Iowa fell to 3-27 (0-22 NSIC) with the loss.
The trio of Peacocks seniors recognized after the contest played a key role in the regular season finale.
Haley Martin hauled in four rebounds and netted double-digit points for the second night in a row with 12,
Casey Miles scored seven points to go with six assists, and
Amanda Cartney tied her career-high assist mark with three and also had four rebounds.
Natalie Dinius shot 55.6 percent from the field to lead the Peacocks with 13 points. The sophomore knocked down three shots from deep to give her 14 games with three or more trifectas this season.
Savannah Domeyer joined Dinius and Martin in the double-digit column with 10 points thanks to 5-for-8 shooting from the floor.
CSP scored the first nine points of the game before Martin scored a pair of jumpers and the duo of Dinius and Domeyer scored on back-to-back possessions to bring the score to 13-8 in favor of the Golden Bears, the closest margin of the night. Concordia-St. Paul finished the quarter on a 15-5 run to claim a 28-13 advantage after the first ten minutes. Both teams exchanged 18 points in the second quarter for a halftime score of 46-31.
The Golden Bears continued their offensive onslaught in the second half and never saw their lead dip below 12 points. CSP knocked down 60.7 percent of its shots, including 73.3 percent in the third quarter, while the Peacocks were held to 38.7 percent shooting.
After struggling with turnovers all season, Upper Iowa ended the regular season on a high note by winning the turnover battle 15-13. The Peacock defense forced the Golden Bears into eight second half turnovers while only coughing the ball up four times in that span.
The Golden Bears were led by two of the Northern Sun's top-5 scorers in Lindsay Dorr and Anna Schmitt. Dorr made 10-of-11 attempts and three free throws for a game-high 23 points, and had three rebounds and a steal. Anna Schmitt filled her stat line with 20 points, three assists, two rebounds, and two steals. Kyrah Fredenburg led all rebounding with eight boards.
The Peacocks will head to Moorhead, Minn. to face Minnesota State University Moorhead in the first round of the NSIC/Sanford Health Women's Basketball Tournament on Wednesday, Feb. 27. The Dragons earned their third straight overall NSIC Title and fourth straight NSIC North Division Championship as they finished the regular season at 19-3. Tip-off is set for 5:30 p.m.
