Bulldogs come out on top in gritty home win, 83-77
The Concordia women’s basketball team celebrates an 83-77 win over Hastings.
Photo credit: Kai Olbrich
By Kai Olbrich
Sports Editor
Clutch shooting and tough defending helped the No. 10 Concordia women’s basketball team hold onto an 83-77 comeback win over the Hastings Broncos on Wednesday.
The game was extremely close at all points, with the advantage never reaching double digits and both teams leading at various points. The Broncos led by four with seven minutes left in the fourth quarter, but the Bulldogs clawed their way back to claim victory.
Some impressive individual performances helped lead the Bulldogs to their tenth Great Plains Athletic Conference win of the season. The star of the night was senior Gabrielle Wagner, who came off the bench to score a career-high 13 points. She was 4-7 from three-point range and grabbed five rebounds and two steals. Coach Drew Olson praised her overall performance and was most impressed with her effort all over the court.
“Yeah, she’s obviously the star of the game. She was awesome. Huge shots,” Olson said. “But really, like, my thing was all of her hustle plays. Like in that last minute and a half, she came up with three kind of 50-50 balls that were just huge for us. And she was a competitor and super tough, and toughness wins.”
Wagner credited her team and faith for giving her the confidence to perform.
“Honestly, my teammates just cheered me on every single day, and they’re always giving me confidence, and I honestly just give my confidence today from the Lord. I’ve been praying a lot,” Wagner said. “And my teammates came alongside me, coach has come alongside me. That gives me the confidence.”
The Bulldogs also looked to a familiar figure, senior Kristin Vieselmeyer, for her consistent scoring habits. Vieselmeyer put up 18 points with seven rebounds. She was also a perfect 9-9 from free throws. That reflected in the team as the Bulldogs shot 83% on 29 free-throw attempts.
The game-sealer came from a combined effort by junior Joclyn Bassett and freshman Ayla Roth. Bassett got a steal with two minutes left in the game, drove down the court on a fast-break, and pushed the ball out to Roth, who knocked down a three to go up by six. Olson praised Bassett’s hustle and defensive resilience.
“She just gave us great minutes,” Olson said. “You know, she’s not going to come up in the box score at all, but she gave great energy, great defense. She did make that big steal. So, yeah, she was great for us.”
Roth finished the game with nine points, just behind junior Sammy Leu with 10 and junior Raelyn Kelty, who put up 12.
The 15-3, 10-2 GPAC Bulldogs are back in action on Jan. 18 when they will make the trek to Mitchell, South Dakota, to face off with No. 9 Dakota Wesleyan.
