Women’s basketball bests Northwestern College at home

Photo description: Junior Sadie Powell rushes down the court. 

Photo credit: Courtney Wright (photo from previous game)

Isaac Dawson

Sower Staff

The Concordia women’s basketball team won their game against the Northwestern College Red Raiders this Saturday in Friedrich Arena with a final score of 75-55.

The first quarter took off with a good showing from Concordia. The Bulldogs won a contest of steals, then Taysha Rushton put up a layup and a 3-pointer after a solid press by the Bulldogs.

A dry spell of turnovers ensued after a Raider’s layup, ending with a 3-pointer apiece and another Northwestern layup, bringing the game to a tie at 8-8. Concordia’s defense refused to let up, taking the ball from the Raiders but not quite managing to get points themselves.

Field goal percentage for each team suffered in the first quarter: 21 percent for CUNE and 25 percent for Northwestern.

Nearly taking the lead at the start of the second quarter, the Raiders just couldn’t breach the Bulldogs’ defense, handing them the ball in a wrapped gift box. Junior Abby Krieser accepted the gift and tore down the court with it for a fast break, Rushton going right along with it and sinking four deep shots in a row for 12 points.

With three minutes left in the half, Concordia was up by 10 points and didn’t let Northwestern within an inch of the lead for its remainder, each team’s defense blocking the vast majority of field goal attempts.

The third quarter began with a bit of a scare with several good layups from the Raiders. Taking a few smart fouls for free throws closed up the gap, alongside a good drive.

The next several minutes marked another dry spell for each team, with Concordia attempting several three-pointers and Northwestern fumbling the ball multiple times.

A layup and two solid free throws from junior Abby Heemstra cut off the drought, and a layup and three from fellow junior Kendal Brigham rounded off the score nicely for a 17-point lead at 45-28.

The quarter ended with a solid 14-point cushion remaining for the Bulldogs going into the final stretch.

CUNE kept the Raiders at bay valiantly in the fourth quarter, an early seven-point streak for Northwestern and several turnovers not affecting them in the slightest. A good three by junior Sadie Powell, another by sophomore Megan Belt, and by a few good layups ballooned the Bulldog lead to a whopping 19 points.

With four minutes to go each team went all out, scoring jumpers and free throws left and right until two CUNE free throws and solid defense stopped all but two points until the end of the game. A 3-point shot from freshman Juliana Jones and a Raiders layup ended the game, securing the Concordia women’s 12th win in a row.

The team as a whole scored 25 of 66 field goals (38 percent), 11 of 33 three pointers (33 percent) and had 14 assists. They made 14 of 21 free throws and had 35 rebounds.

Rushton and Brigham were the leading scorers for Concordia, sitting at 29 and 10 points respectively. Powell took home the most rebounds at seven and sophomore Kristen Vieselmeyer with the most assists at three.

The basketball team now has a season record of 3-0. Their next game is a home game against the Morningside University Mustangs at Friedrich Arena on Nov. 15 at 7:45 p.m.