VERMILLION, S.D. -- For the second-straight game, there has been an upset in the NCAA Division II North Central Region women’s basketball tournament. #6 seed Minnesota State University pulled off the day’s second upset as they knocked off #3 seed Concordia-St. Paul, 73-70. Earlier in the day #7 Wayne State defeated #2 North Dakota.
In the win for Minnesota State (22-8), the Mavericks made twice as many trips to the foul line as Concordia (28-3). MSU was 15-of-18 from the foul line while the Golden Bears were just of 6-of-9.
“It was a battle, a great game, we hung in there until the end and the,” said MSU head coach Lori Fish. “We really felt like we’d be in, it’s been a long time since our team has made the tournament. Then to beat the #1 team from the NSIC is a great accomplishment.”
Heather Johnson paced the Mavericks with 19 points. She hit on 7-of-14 field goals and was 4-of-5 from behind the arc. Alex Andrews recorded a double-double with 17 points and 12 rebounds. She was 6-of-13 from the field.
“We had to put what CU has behind us, we had to go out and execute…go out and use our talents,” said Andrews. “We play them in summer league a lot so we have plenty of rivalry with them which makes this more great.”
The Golden Bears were led by Katie LaViolette, who displayed her All-American talents. She scored a game-high 23 points while also dishing out eight assists and grabbing six boards. Amanda Behnke posted a double-double for CSP. She finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
“We thought we could come back from anything, we knew we could come back and at the end of the game we were right there, just couldn’t get over the top,” said LaViolette. “It’s been a pretty special season, in the locker room I told them I wouldn’t trade them as teammates for anything, we’ve had so much fun together.”
“We have to make more three’s than six,” said CSP head coach Paul Fessler. “I thought Mankato played really well, did some outstanding things, they had great energy, Andrews was by far the player of the game. The 50/50 balls, we didn’t do a good job in that battle.”
Minnesota State will now move on to the region semifinals where they will take on Wayne State. The two teams will square off on Saturday, March 15 at 4:00 p.m at the DakotaDome on the campus of The University of South Dakota.
