Box Score Concordia University, St. Paul seemed a step ahead of the Bulldogs all night as the University of Minnesota Duluth fought back several times but saw its season come to a close in the opening round of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference/Sanford Health Tournament on Wednesday night, falling 81-72 in St. Paul.

The third-seed Golden Bears (22-8) built up a pair of 11-point leads in the opening half but saw UMD(14-13) fight back twice, down 22-21 at the midpoint of the half and down just three at the break. The Bulldogs held a 24-19 edge on boards, including 9-to-3 on the offensive end at halftime. Senior center Hannah Rutten and junior guard Jessica Newman combined for 11 rebounds at the break, while Rutten added eight points off the bench, tied with Danielle Flood for the UMD halftime lead. The Bulldogs had five steals to just two for Concordia, but shot just 32.4 percent in the opening half to trail 37-34.

Freshman guard Kenzie Kane knotted the game at 43-all with 14:27 remaining, the first tie score since 2-2 just moments into the contest. She followed that up giving UMD its first lead at 46-45 with another three, but the Golden Bears, and specifically Ameshia Kearney, answered with a triple of their own to give Concordia the lead once again, one they would not relinquish as the Bears pulled away late to end UMD's season. Kearney finished with a game-high 25 points on the night.

Senior forward Katrina Newman ended her Bulldog career with an 11-point, seven-reboudn effort, adding three assists before fouling out in the game's closing seconds. Rutten had a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds, while sophomore Taylor Meyer led the way for UMD with 14 points. Kane and Jessica Newman each had 12 points on the night for the Bulldogs. UMD shot just 34.7 percent on the night while CU fell just short of 50 percent. Beyond Kearney, the Bears got double-digit scoring from four players, including a 20-point, 10-rebound performance by Rachel Hansen.

The Bulldogs end their season with a winning record for the sixth time in six seasons under head coach Annette Wiles. Concordia moves on to play second-seed Minot State this weekend in the next round of the NSIC/Sanford Health Tournament.