Amber Connor paced the Knights with 14 points and Sarah Lincoln added 12 points and eight rebounds. Isler tallied seven points, five assists and five steals for the Knights (13-3, 10-3 MIAC) and Hannah Oken-Berg added nine points and eight rebounds, the first time this season she's failed to score in double figures.
Melanie Hageman paced the Cobbers (11-6, 8-5 MIAC) with 12 points and 13 rebounds and Annie Keeley added 12 points. Anna Matetich came off the bench for 11 points and three steals.
Carleton had the ball but trailed by one with 16 seconds left and missed on two chances at the go-ahead basket. Concordia secured the rebound and pushed the ball up the floor, racing away from the Knights and towards an apparent basket to go ahead by three points. Isler, though, sliced in and stole the ball away and quickly called timeout.
Out of the timeout and with the ball under Concordia's basket, the Knights threw the ball to halfcourt and then quickly to Mileusnic on the sideline. She raced up the side, cut hard to the basket and found enough room to lay the ball off the glass and in with two seconds left.
Concordia called a timeout, but their subsequent inbounds pass was caught by Lincoln.
The game was easily broken into three parts. The Knights dominated the first part, racing to a quick 24-9 lead as the Cobbers struggled to find the shooting touch and the Knights were clicking. The second part started at the five-minute mark of the first half, as Keeley's jumper ignited a 12-4 closing spurt for the visitors to leave Carleton ahead, 31-24, at the break.
The Cobbers kept pushing, though, using a 16-2 run over six-minute span to lead, 48-41, midway through the half. The Cobbers' lead expanded to eight, but the Knights answered with a 13-2 string, with Isler and Connor both scoring five points during the stretch, to leave the Knights ahead, 56-53, with less than three minutes left.
Hageman and Keeley willed consecutive shots into the hoop and with 90 seconds left the Cobbers led. Both teams had chances but came away empty, setting up Mileusnic's winning basket.
The Knights shot 42 percent from the floor and the Cobbers 32 percent, as Concordia is now 0-6 when shooting worse than 35 percent from the field. Rebounds were even at 36-36, though the Cobbers converted their offensive rebounds more efficiently than the Knights, owning a 13-5 edge in second-chance points. Carleton, though, outscored the Cobbers 19-9 from the free-throw line, which was huge as Concordia entered the contest leading the MIAC in free-throw attempts per game.
Carleton is back in action with another tough matchup on Wednesday, Jan. 24, hosting league-leading St. Benedict at 7:30 p.m. at West Gym. The Blazers lead the Knights by two games and Gustavus Adolphus College by one game in the MIAC standings.
Concordia College vs Carleton College 01/22/07 7:45 p.m. at Northfield, Minn. (West Gym) At Northfield, Minn. (West Gym) CARLETON COLLEGE 58, CONCORDIA COLLEGE 57 CONCORDIA COLLEGE (11-5, 8-4 MIAC) Melanie Hageman 4-14 4-5 12; Annie Keeley 5-14 2-3 12; Anna Matetich 5-10 1-1 11; Jenna Freudenberg 3-6 1-2 8; Jessica Heintz 2-4 0-0 6; Sara Sorbo 2-5 0-0 4; Kaitlynn Gottenberg 1-1 0-0 3; Leanne White 0-4 1-2 1; Chelsea Evenstad 0-2 0-0 0; Emily Swierenga 0-0 0-0 0; Ashley King 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 22-61 9-13 57. CARLETON COLLEGE (12-3, 9-3 MIAC) Amber Connor 5-8 3-4 14; Sarah Lincoln 4-6 3-6 12; Hannah Oken-Berg 3-11 3-5 9; Sarah Kunelius 1-3 5-5 7; Annie Isler 1-5 4-5 7; Megan Mileusnic 3-4 0-1 6; Anna Biewen 1-4 0-0 2; Annie Eckhoff 0-2 1-2 1. Totals 18-43 19-28 58. Concordia College............. 24 33 - 57 Carleton College.............. 31 27 - 58 3-point goals-Concordia College 4-13 (Jessica Heintz 2-4; Jenna Freudenberg 1-1; Kaitlynn Gottenberg 1-1; Sara Sorbo 0-1; Anna Matetich 0-1; Annie Keeley 0-4; Melanie Hageman 0-1), Carleton College 3-10 (Sarah Lincoln 1-3; Annie Isler 1-3; Amber Connor 1-2; Sarah Kunelius 0-2). Fouled out--Concordia College-None, Carleton College-None. Rebounds-Concordia College 36 (Melanie Hageman 13), Carleton College 36 (Sarah Lincoln 8; Hannah Oken-Berg 8). Assists-Concordia College 14 (Jenna Freudenberg 3; Leanne White 3), Carleton College 10 (Annie Isler 5). Total fouls-Concordia College 21, Carleton College 16.