MOORHEAD, Minn. – The University of Minnesota Morris women's basketball team fell in its season opener on Wednesday at Concordia College (Minn.), 93-70. The Cobbers jumped out to 10-point lead after the first quarter and used some hot outside shooting and pressure defense to keep the Cougars at bay.

Concordia's Carlee Sieben missed a pair of triples on the first possession of the game and proceeded to go 6-for-10 from beyond the arc the rest of the night. Following a 5-0 start to the game from the Cobbers, Jadyn Sondrol hit a three for the first Minnesota Morris points of the season three minutes in. That was answered by a Sieben three-pointer to push the lead back to five and Emily Beseman's second triple of the opening quarter made it 23-13 through 10 minutes.

A Maddy Grove layup three minutes into the second quarter drew UMN Morris to within eight, 25-17, but Concordia came back with a 12-0 run that included a pair of Sieben three-balls to increase the lead to 37-17. Grace Perry and Grove scored the final four points of the half to bring the Cougars to within 47-30 at the break.

The Cobbers came out of halftime with the first four points of the second half to once again push their advantage over 20 points. The lead grew to as much as 35 points midway through the fourth quarter before a late rally from Minnesota Morris. The Cougars scored the final 10 points of the night, with a three-point play from Claire Stark, a jumper from Alice Wilkinson, and five points from Perry in the final 30 seconds.

Grove was the leading scorer for Minnesota Morris on the night with 14, while Perry and Jay Kwateh notched 11 and Sondrol and Stark finished with 10 apiece. Malory Anderson was the leading rebounder for the Cougars with eight.

Minnesota Morris is in action twice this weekend at the College of Saint Benedict. First up is a Friday night matchup with the Bennies, slated for an 8 p.m. start in St. Joseph.