Bulldogs Women Open CIT with a Bang, Scoring 100 Over Concordia Wisconsin
By Darien Semedo
The 70th Concordia Invitational Tournament returned to Seward on Friday with the Bulldog women’s team winning 100-49 in dominant fashion over Concordia Wisconsin.
It was the first time this season the Bulldogs scored 100 points. They entered the tournament with a three-game win streak and added a fourth in a game that saw plenty of play from its reserve unit.
Starters were led by Taysha Rushton with 15 points, one of two players to score double digits. The Bulldog bench scored a total of 58 points, led by Kristin Vieselmeyer with 11 points.
Vieselmeyer was proud of the bench unit as a whole, giving this Bulldogs team extra depth and talent.
“When we get our bench player in I think it is a great opportunity to cheer on each other and create a fun atmosphere.” she said. “Me coming off the bench and being able to score, I can feel the love from our starters especially and showing that the people at the bottom of the bench can score… it shows how scary our team can be.”
From the opening gate, the Bulldogs defense was on full display as they jumped out to a 15-point lead within the first five minutes of the game. The defense tallied 20 total turnovers and had four blocks on the way to 30 points off turnovers.
Vieselmeyer said after the game that when they are able to enter their full court press, other teams often struggle and become tired as the game goes on.
“We run that full court press, and that kills teams. We are able to run them into the ground and make them tired,” she said.
“It was cool to hit 100. It’s the first time we have done that this season,” said Coach Drew Olsen. “I know it meant a lot to our team and the crowd loved it. But the best part is the balance that we play with. Everyone contributes and we share the ball so well.”
He led the Bulldogs with high energy all through the night, active with the fans and constantly employing his players to keep their energy up. Each player who entered the game scored.
“I loved how hard we played” he said. “We did have great energy from the start and we played a good, disciplined game on both offense and defense. CIT is a big deal to me. I love Concordia Nebraska. There is so much pride and history in these games.”
