No. 11 Concordia drowns Doane Tigers with 20 threes enroute to 101-60 win.

Photo description: Junior Abby Krieser dribbles the ball around an opponent. 

Photo credit: Esther Molina

Darien Semedo

Sower Staff

​The No. 11 ranked Concordia (12-2, 8-2) women’s basketball team was white-hot from three Wednesday in Friedrich Arena against the Doane Tigers (10-5, 5-4), making 20 threes and winning 101-60.

​From the tip the Bulldogs were hitting their outside attempts, led by their point guard Junior Taysha Rushton who shot 3-4 from three. Concordia never trailed in the game, as the Tigers were forced to call an early timeout after going down 16-0.

Rushton would make one more three before having to leave the game with an apparent leg injury on a three-point attempt. Junior Kendal Brigham took over the keys of the offense and enjoyed a career-high in points scored. On the night, Brigham shot 9-11 from the field including 5-7 from three leading to 24 points and five assists. Head Coach Drew Olsen had high praise for the veteran guard after the game.

​“It hurt having Taysha out, especially how she played. But she [Kendal] was great in that first half,” said Olsen. “Kendal is just a phenomenal player. We view her as a starter, she’s somebody that always closes games and is just a phenomenal player and the pace that she plays at is incredible. She had a great night.”

Other notable offensive performances came from juniors Abby Krieser (14) and Sadie Powell (12), and sophomore Megan Belt (12, four 3-pointers-made). As a team the Bulldogs shot 53.4 percent from the field, 46.5 percent from deep, and made all three of their free throws.

On the defensive side of the ball, the Bulldogs press caused issues early on. The Tigers finished with 24 turnovers, including two 10 second violations. The individual defense in the half court was just as strong, holding one of the better offenses in the Great Plains Athletic Conference to 60 points on 38.9 percent efficiency.

Olsen and his staff were focused on slowing down junior Mak Hatcliff, who is averaging 24 points while having shooting splits of 55/50/75. Hatcliff finished with only 15 while shooting 4-12 from the field. The Bulldogs finished with 10 steals including four from Krieser and three from Brigham. Sophomore Kristin Vieselmeyer led the team with three blocks while Junior Makenzie Toomey and Rushton added two apiece. Coach Olsen credited the defense for easy baskets.

​“Yeah, I thought we played really well. I thought we moved the ball incredibly well, which led to a lot of open shots. It starts on our defensive end leading to a lot of transition baskets, easy layups or wide-open kick out threes,” said Olsen. “I thought we executed the game plan and did a good job on Mak Hatcliff; she is one of the best players in the country and it was just a really good team effort to contain her.”

​The Bulldogs will now focus on extending their five-game win streak against the No. 1 Ranked Dordt Defenders (14-1, 9-0) at home in Seward, Neb. The Defenders lead the GPAC in rebounds while staying efficient on the offensive side of the ball, so the Bulldogs will have to be aggressive on the glass and disrupt their offensive flow with the press.