Part of the time, she worries about her husband being deployed with an infantry unit in Iraq; the rest of the time, sheâ€™s scoring in double figures for the Cobber womenâ€™s basketball team.
â€œBasketball keeps my mind off what heâ€™s doing,â€ says Bauernfeind â€™11, Rosemount, Minn. â€œI focus on basketball. Itâ€™s a short-term, immediate goal. Something I can do every day instead of worrying about what might be.â€
Bauernfeind married her high school sweetheart in October in a small ceremony after the two decided they wanted to face their futures together.
He attended college before enlisting in the Army. Heâ€™s trained as a medic, which the couple hopes will lead to career choices after military service.
The two talk and see each other virtually every day via Skype on their computers.
â€œItâ€™s easier to talk with him than I thought,â€ she says. â€œThe Army is really good about keeping families connected.â€
Despite the distractions, Bauernfeind is having her best season at Concordia.
An All-Conference guard, she is in the top 15 in the MIAC in scoring, field goal percentage, free throw percentage and 3-point field goal percentage â€“ all testaments to her ability to compartmentalize her life. She recently scored her 1,000th point, becoming only the 24th player in program history to reach this milestone.
â€œIâ€™m concentrating on basketball instead of thinking about Iraq,â€ she says. â€œBut I have to credit my teammates. They know how important basketball is to me now, and they help me stay focused. We play and win as a team.â€
A psychology major with minors in Scandinavian Studies and coaching, Bauernfeind says she wonâ€™t settle on a career until after her husband returns from Iraq in November, and they are stationed at an Army post in Kansas.
â€œWeâ€™ll probably plan a big wedding, so all our friends and family can come. Then weâ€™ll sit down and look at the long term,â€ she says.
But for now, her focus is basketball.
â€œWeâ€™re fighting for a conference championship. Thatâ€™s our goal; thatâ€™s what is on our minds.â€