ST. PAUL, Minn. (11/30/11)-- The Concordia interior game proved too much for Macalester as the Cobbers outscored the Scots 40-14 in "points in the paint" en route to a 63-51 victory in the conference opener for both teams.   

Concordia sophomore center Alex Lippert paved the way for the inside dominance. She finished with a game-high 21 points, seven rebounds and five blocks. Lippert was 10-for-14 from the floor and helped the Cobbers post a 52-32 edge in rebounding.

The game turned in favor of the Cobbers with 7:00 to play in the first half. Trailing 20-15, Concordia went on a 15-0 run to grab a 30-20 lead with 2:00 to go in the opening period. CC eventually took a 32-23 lead into the break as they held the Scots to a single field goal in the final 8:32 of the half. 

CC would never trail after the break. Macalester got to within three points on three occasions early in the second half but each time the Cobbers were able to respond with a basket on the very next trip down the court to keep the Scots from having a chance to tie the game. Concordia put the game out of reach after the third time that Macalester had trimmed the lead to three points. CC went on a 10-0 run to push a 38-35 margin to a commanding 48-35 lead with 11:43 to play.

Concordia (3-1) relied mostly on their superior inside size and went 24-for-55 (43.6%) from the floor. CC took just nine shots from outside the arc and made three 3-point field goals. Besides the superior margin in points in the paint, the Cobbers also enjoyed a 15-5 edge in points off turnovers and a 21-11 advantage in bench points.

Emily Thesing was the only other Cobber player with more than eight points in the game. She finished with 11 points and added a game-high five assists. She was also 6-for-6 from the free throw line and has now gone 12-for-12 from the charity stripe in the past two games. Sophomore point guard Erika Jossart had a team-high eight rebounds and also dished off four dimes. Andrea Benjamin came off the bench to grab eight rebounds and scored six points.

Macalester (2-2) shot just 28.1% (18-for-64) from the floor and 35.3% (6-for-17) from 3-point range. The Scots were led by Jessica Rene who went 7-for-14 from the floor and had a team-high 20 points. Holly Schiedermayer collected a game-high 10 rebounds.

Concordia will stay on the road when they play at Augsburg on Saturday, Dec. 3 at 1 p.m.