ST. PAUL, Minn. (Gangelhoff Center) [box score] -- The Bemidji State University women’s basketball team suffered their second consecutive Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference loss on Saturday night to the No. 15 ranked Concordia-St. Paul Golden Bears. CSP went on a 24-to-7 run over the last 7:43 of the game to erase a 11-point deficit and steal a win from Bemidji State University.

In a game were neither team was hot from the field the Golden Bears out shot the Beavers by the narrowest of margins as CSP shot 25-66 (.379) from the field while the Beavers were 25-66 (.378), BSU’s worst shooting performance of the season. Despite getting 18 points and eight rebounds from center Stephanie Peterson (Sr., Bismarck, N.D.) the difference in the game came in the paint. The Golden Bears posted 28 points in the three-second area to just 22 for BSU. Peterson has netted double-figures in seven out of eight games this season for the Beavers.

Point guard Amy Lawson (Spencer, Iowa) added 15 points, seven assists and a season-high nine rebounds. Heidi Matzke (Jr., G, Red Lake Falls, Minn.) and Colleen McKay (Fr., C, Barnum, Minn.) joined Peterson and Lawson in double figures as they each added 10 points apiece, respectively.

CSP was led by the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference preseason player of the year Amanda Behnke as she netted a game-high of 26 points and 18 rebounds for the lone double-double of the game. After the standout performance of Behnke the scoring was pretty even for the Golden Bears. Kelly Lund added 13 points, Jamie Jones notched 12 points and Kali Olstad and Katie LaViolette each added 10 points to round out the double-figure score for CSP. LaViolette matched BSU’s Lawson with seven assists.

CSP jumped out to a big advantage at the outset, 32-20, but a 15-3 BSU run knotted the game and set the battle for the evening.

The last 3:27 of the first half featured five lead changes, but BSU held a 40-39 first-half advantage on a pair of free-throws by Lawson. Freshman Colleen McKay led the Beavers in the half as she netted all 10 of her points and pulled down five rebounds. Peterson and Lawson each pitched in eight points apiece to give the Beavers a one point advantage over No. 15 Concordia-St. Paul.

Bemidji State opened up the second half and went on a 19-to-11 run to gain its largest lead of the game at 60-50 with 11:21 left on a jumper by Peterson in the paint. Peterson netted eight points during the run for the Beavers while Kirsten Hengstler (So., G, Andover, Minn.) added both of her three-point baskets during the run for the Beavers.

The Beavers kept the pressure on over the next four minutes of the game as they pushed their lead to 11 points (70-59) the largest of the game for the Beavers with 7:26 left in the game. From that point on things went south for the Beavers, BSU went scoreless over the next 2:30 seconds and the Golden Bears picked up their pace and found themselves trailing by just three points with just under five minutes to play in the game. A pair of free-throws by Katie LaViolette tied the game at 72-72 and then on the next possession Kali Olstad knocked down two more free throws to give CSP a 74-72 lead, CSP’s first lead since 1:38 left in the first half.

BSU continued to battle as Amy Lawson cut the lead to 76-74 on a layup with just 1:41 left but CSP used solid free throw shooting to seal the six point victory over the Beavers.

The loss leaves BSU with a 4-4 mark on the season and 2-2 in the NSIC. CSP’s record improved to 7-0 overall and 3-0 in the NSIC. With the win Concordia-St. Paul’s lead over the Beavers moved to 18-11 over the Beavers and it is the second consecutive game the Golden Beavers have won over BSU.

Stephanie Peterson continues to move closer to the 1,000 point mark for her career as she sits with 966 points after her 32 points weekend.

Bemidji State will next be in action on Tuesday, Dec. 11 when the Beavers will travel to Mankato, Minn., to take on Minnesota State Univesity at 6:00 p.m.

Bemidji State University, located in Bemidji, Minn., is an NCAA Division II institution and a member of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC).