Huskies run down Golden Bears in 82-72 win

Friday, January 17

St. Cloud, Minn.

5:30 p.m.

St. Cloud State

11-4,8-3NSIC

Concordia University, St. Paul

9-8,6-5NSIC

Concordia-St. Paul

St. Cloud St.

Tori Wortz had a breakout night for St. Cloud State, tallying 24 points in the win over CSP.

Photo by: Kylie Macziewski

1/17/2020 8:26:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

ST. CLOUD, MINN. – The St. Cloud State University women's basketball team is not typically known for its offensive prowess. In fact, the Huskies have been one of the top defensive teams in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) all season long, holding opponents under 60 points a game while scoring just over 65 of their own.

Seems like St. Cloud State is going through an identity crisis in a good way.

The Huskies put up 80+ points for the second consecutive game helping them win their fifth straight against an NSIC opponent. Thanks to a red-hot offense and strong defensive play down the stretch, St. Cloud State ran down Concordia-St. Paul en route to a 82-72 win in Halenbeck Hall Friday night.

The Huskies went with a different game plan Friday evening, as they needed to counteract the Golden Bears fast paced offense. At the end of the first quarter, St. Cloud State held a slim 19-18 advantage over Concordia-St. Paul in what was one of the team's highest scoring quarters of the season. The Huskies shot a blistering .533 in the first 10 minutes of play, but the Golden Bears were hot on their tales, as they shot 4-6 from three-point range to stay within striking distance of St. Cloud State's lead.

The Huskies defense shut Concordia-St. Paul down in the second quarter, using a big half from Tori Wortz (Hutchinson, Minn. / Hutchinson) to walk into the locker room with a 38-29 lead. The junior guard would lead the team with 14 points in the opening 20 minutes of play, while Brehna Evans (De Pere, Wis. / West De Pere) led the way with a team-leading six rebounds.

St. Cloud State was able to maintain its nine point lead throughout the third quarter, but several Huskies found themselves in foul trouble after a contested 10 minutes. In the third quarter alone, St. Cloud State was called for six personal fouls on defense, forcing the Huskies to play most of the third quarter without top scorers Katrina Theis (Maple Grove, Minn. / Maple Grove) or Evans.

St. Cloud State was able to maintain a 10-point lead throughout the final minutes of the third, and, with the help of an and-one lay up by Madelin Dammann (Waconia, Min. / Waconia), held a 65-52 lead with 10 minutes left to play. The Golden Bears would threaten in the final six minutes of regulation, pulling within eight of the Huskies at 74-66. Concordia-St. Paul then whittled it down to six with 4:02 remaining in the game before losing its top scorer Riley Wheatcraft to injury.

In the final three minutes, the Huskies defense shut down the Golden Bears while the offense plugged away, soaring to an eventual 82-72 victory. Wortz ended the game as the team's leading scorer, tallying an impressive 24 points on 10-17 shooting from the floor, including a 2-4 mark from three-point range. Joining her in double-digits were Dammann, Evans and Nikki Kilboten (Eau Claire, Wis. / North), who each scored 16+ points in the victory. The senior Dammann closed the game with 22 on 7-9 shooting while Evans and Kilboten each tallied 16 in the victory. Kilboten also tallied a double-double with a team-leading 10 rebounds and additionally added three blocks.

With the win, St. Cloud State's overall record improves to 11-4 and the team is 8-3 in NSIC play. If Mother Nature cooperates, the Huskies will return on Saturday, January 18 when they host Minnesota State University at 3:30 p.m. in Halenbeck Hall.