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March 01, 2005
Hamline crushed by Concordia 93-62
There was no question that Concordia was ready to head into the conference playoffs, but just how ready they were was clearly answered when Concordia pounded host Hamline en-route to a commanding 93-62 win over the Pipers in the regular season finale for both teams on Feb. 19.
The game was decided right from the tipoff, as the Cobbers scored 17 of the first 19 points in the game.
Hamline was able to slowly chip away at the lead and come within nine points for a brief stint, but the
Piper defense had no answer for the Cobber runs.
The Pipers would end up trailing 25-16 with 4:50 left in the first, before Concordia outscored Hamline 22-6 to take a 47-23 lead into the locker room at the break.
The second half opened just as the first did, and Concordia stormed their way past the Pipers, outscoring
Hamline 14-8 in the first five minutes of the second. Concordia’s Mandy Pearson started the second half by sinking a three-pointer.
Concordia ran up their lead to 61-31 with 14:19 on the clock, and then stretched their advantage to 76-51 with just 5:30 left on the clock.
The Cobbers stayed in control for the rest of the final minutes of play, leading Hamline 90-60 before the clock expired, and Concordia totaled 93 points in the contest.
Pearson scored a team-high 20 points and had 12 assists for the Cobbers and has now scored in double figures in 22 of the team’s 23 games.
Hamline was led by a game-high 23 points from Laurisa Ewert.
Melissa Young-Kruse, Hamline’s head coach, had great praise for Concordia and the efforts of Pearson, saying, “Concordia is a very solid team, and they shot the ball well tonight. I coached Pearson for about seven years in AAU, so I understand what a tremendous asset she is to [Concordia’s] program.”
She added, “Mandy runs the show and has unbelievable court sense.”
Concordia’s head coach Jessica Rahman was happy with how her team performed and felt it was a good
tune-up for the MIAC tournament. “We wanted to come in and play hard, and I think it is good to go into the playoffs thinking you’re playing your best basketball,” said Rahman. “We’ve been getting better and better all season with our defensive pressure, and tonight we did a good job at spreading the floor against Hamline.”
Though her team easily defeated the Pipers, Rahman also praised Hamline’s program, saying, “Hamline is one of those teams that when you come into their place, they’re a very talented team, and they’re always going to play hard.”
Hamline ends their season by losing their final three conference games and posted a 4-16 MIAC record for the year.
Editor’s note: Concordia was defeated by St. Ben’s 77-73 in the MIAC playoff tournament on Feb. 23.
Posted by msveum at March 1, 2005 08:16 PM
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