Peacock women's basketball was outscored 21-10 by Concordia, St. Paul in the fourth quarter to suffer a 74-66 loss on the road. Upper Iowa took their first lead of the game in the beginning of the second quarter and did not relinquish it until halfway through the fourth period. The Golden Bears came from behind and commanded the lead back, staying out in front for the remainder of the game.
The loss drops Upper Iowa to 6-15 in the conference and the win for Concordia, St. Paul brings them to 10-11 in the NSIC. The Peacocks are currently notched in 6th place in the NSIC South, looking for a victory on Saturday against Minnesota State to solidify their postseason berth. They are one game ahead of Sioux Falls, the seventh place team, and two games in front of eighth place.
The Golden Bears jumped out to a 13-6 lead after scoring the first two buckets of the game and more three baskets from beyond the arc, all within the first five minutes of the game. The Peacocks soon joined the three-point barrage, bringing the game to a tie at 22 all by the end of the first segment. They were fueled with an 8-2 run from triples from
Lydia Haack and Katie Tornstron, along with a bucket at the rim from
Brooke Evenson. UIU shot over 50% in the first ten minutes, including netting 4-5 from beyond the arc. CSP shot 44% from the field and converted 4-6 from long distance.
Upper continued to shoot over 50% in the second quarter while CSP dropped to 31%. Both teams struggled from three-point range as Upper Iowa went 1-4 and CSP only converted 1-7. Upper Iowa took the lead with the first bucket of the quarter from Lexie Lodermeir. The teams battled back and forth until the Peacocks found their stride and led 44-38 by the end of the half. Tornstrom shot a perfect percentage from the floor after the conclusion of the first half, gathering 13 points while Haack contributed 11.
CSP started off the third quarter on a 4-0 slide to bring the game within two points. Triples from Evenson and Tornstrom helped push their lead back out to six points with five minutes left in the period. The Golden Bears strung together a 5-0 run to only trail by one point. Haack netted two free throws to push their lead out to three to end the quarter. This was a low scoring quarter for both teams as CSP had a 15-12 advantage over UIU. Both teams struggled to convert shots as Upper Iowa converted just 28% and Concordia shot 26%. The Peacocks didn't score for the final three and a half minutes and the Golden Bears remained scoreless for the final four minutes.
Tornstrom broke the scoring drought in the fourth quarter with a left-handed finish at the basket and CSP ended their rough patch on the next possession with a three-point play. The Golden Bears tied it all up at 60 with just over six minutes left on the clock. They went on to take the lead with just under four minutes of play. Upper Iowa kept within close proximity and found themselves down by two with 37 seconds left. They sent CSP to the charity stripe where they converted 2-2. The Peacocks were unable to convert another field goal on the next few possessions and CSP's Ally Gietzel iced the game with six straight free throws to end the contest 74-66.
Tornstrom led the Peacocks with 24 points on 9-18 shooting while grabbing nine boards. Haack finished with 13 points and dished out seven assists.
Upper Iowa is back on home court Saturday at 4 p.m. against Minnesota State University. A win would clinch their spot in the NSIC postseason tournament.
