Falcons wear down Raiders in NACC win

MILWAUKEE, Wis. – Concordia Wisconsin did what it does best and pound the ball inside early and often during a grind-it-out 59-47 victory at MSOE during NACC play inside the Kern Center.

THE BASICS
Final Score: Concordia Wisconsin 59, MSOE 47
Location: Kern Center (Milwaukee, Wis.)
Records: Concordia Wisconsin 8-2, 6-1 NACC; MSOE 6-5, 4-2 NACC

HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Falcons hit just three 3-pointers all game, which came in the opening quarter, and from then on it was all about getting to the basket. They used a 10-2 scoring run during a five-minute span to late in the first quarter to take control.
- Concordia Wisconsin also took advantage of MSOE's Holly Denfield – reigning NACC Player of the Year – who had two fouls and sat the entire second period. The visitors pushed their lead to double-figure on a couple of occasions during those 10 minutes of action.
- The Falcons valued the basketball and turned it over a season-low-tying nine times, while forcing 12 Raider error and scoring 14 points off those miscues. They also finished with a commanding 26-14 difference in points in the paint.
- Junior Brianna Wagner (Fond du Lac, Wis.) led the team with 14 points, to go along with six rebounds and three assists. Sophomore Baylee Barker (Oconomowoc, Wis.) made her first start of the season and scored 10 points.
- Senior Taylor DeLong (Milwaukee, Wis.) had 10 points and four rebounds off the bench. Junior Audrey Scharmer (Winona, Minn.) tallied nine points, grabbed six rebounds and dished out four assists.
- Senior Samantha Blissett (Springfield, Ill.) had eight points, five steals, three rebounds and three assists. Sophomore Marciarae' Harmon (Milwaukee, Wis.) hauled in seven rebounds.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- The game was the first of a difficult three-game week for the Falcons.
- The victory pushes Concordia Wisconsin's record to 12-1 against MSOE inside the Kern Center dating back to January of 2001.
- Wagner has now scored in double-figures in four straight games. DeLong's scoring total gives her a team-leading eight games with double-digits.

THE OPPOSITION
- Denfeld had 18 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Raiders.
- Jamie Spanbauer tallied 11 points, three rebounds, two assist and two steals.

NEXT ON THE SCHEDULE
- The Falcons travel to Edgewood on Thursday for a 7 pm NACC contest that was rescheduled from an original date of December 17.