Women’s basketball defeats Marian University in second Cattle Classic match

Photo description: Junior Mackenzie Toomey moves the ball down the court, pursued by two Marian players. 

Photo credit: Kayla Korb

Jonas Sommerville

Sower Staff

The Concordia women’s basketball team defeated Marian University 75-62 Saturday afternoon in the Cattle Classic tournament. This win was an early statement by the Bulldogs that they are one of the top teams in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics, as they took down the fifth-ranked Marian Knights.

The first quarter was a tough battle for both teams, as Marian took an early 22-19 lead. The second quarter saw a much more defensive battle, as Marian took a 32-30 lead into half-time. The Bulldogs came out very energetic in the third quarter and put up a dominant quarter. Concordia outscored Marian 26-11 to take a commanding 56-43 lead into the final quarter. The Bulldogs held off Marian in the fourth quarter, despite turning the ball over seven times in the quarter.

Junior Taysha Rushton led the Bulldogs in scoring with 22 points. Fellow junior Kendall Brigham also tallied double-digit points with 14. Both Rushton and Brigham also earned a spot on the Cattle Classic all-tournament team. Junior Sadie Powell did a little bit of everything, leading the team with four assists and six rebounds.

Head Coach Drew Olson was impressed with the grit the team showed down the stretch. He stated, “I was really impressed with our group’s composure and toughness, especially in the second half. We showed that we can win in different ways. Like last night it was high-scoring and up and down. Marian did a good job of kind of controlling the tempo a little bit, but we were still able to do some really good things defensively and it’s just a really good win for our group.”

The Bulldogs are now 2-0 overall and they will play Great Plains Athletic Conference foe Morningside on Nov. 15 at Friedrich Arena at 6 p.m.