Bulldogs Bring the Heat at a Snowy Semifinals

by Morgan Consier

Despite Seward’s impending blizzard warning, Concordia’s women’s basketball team defeated the Hastings College Broncos 89-66 to advance to the Great Plains Athletic Conference championship game.

The Broncos scored five points right away, but the Bulldogs quickly caught up and maintained their lead for the rest of the quarter and the game.

Concordia led 55-34 at the half, with #55 junior guard Grace Barry as the leading scorer with 11 points. Sophomore guard Taylor Cockerill, freshman guard Mackenzie Koepke, junior forward Philomena Lammers, and senior forward Quinn Wragge each finished the half with eight points.

The Bulldogs maintained their lead throughout the second half, even reaching a 25-point lead with a score of 79-54 with 5:21 left in the game.

Lorraine Grenfell, the mother of Hastings freshman guard Emma Grenfell, said she left early to get here from York before the weather got worse.

“I don’t think anyone had any huge issues getting here. It’s going to be going home that’s going to be the issue,” Grenfell said.

The Hastings players drove to Seward last night to be here before the inclement weather came.

Devin Smith, director of athletics, said their main concern once they knew that the Hastings team was here was to make sure that the game officials could make it.

“Today we reconvened as an athletic leadership group and talked to the basketball coaches, the officials, (and) the event management staff at ten this morning, and then just stuck with the game time that was switched to one,” Smith said.

Cockerill said that the team has been working together this semester to incorporate both old and new players and to help the team play well together.

“We’ve had a lot of new people come in,” Cockerill said. “We’ve learned how to play together, (and) I think we’ve got a momentum going. We’re excited to head into these final days.”

Concordia will host the GPAC championship game Tuesday, Feb. 26 at 7 p.m.