Women’s basketball defeats Morningside Mustangs in first conference game of season, 62-74
Senior guard Abby Krieser (23) maneuvers the ball around an opponent, heading for the basket (photo from previous game).
Photo credit: Josiah Seabaugh
By Isaac Dawson
No. 5 Concordia Women’s Basketball faced down the Morningside Mustangs this Saturday in their first conference game of the season, ending with the final score of the match at 62-74.
The Mustangs couldn’t pull it back together in the last 10 minutes from the second- and third-quarter gap. The lead flip-flopped back and forth 10 times in the first quarter, but the Bulldogs started pulling ahead in the second quarter.
The Bulldogs’ ability to launch the ball in from behind the line was a key factor to the win, as Morningside lagged behind in threes the entire game.
Concordia managed to make 7-19 threes in the first half and 5-13 in the second, putting up a total of 12. The Mustangs were 2-21 for the entire game, making their only threes with minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. That wasn’t quite enough to save them as sophomores Raelyn Kelty and Sammy Leu finished off the game with a layup each followed by a few free throws.
Coach Drew Olson’s Bulldogs demonstrated excellent game management, committing only 18 turnovers compared to the Mustangs’ 20 and out-rebounding them 38 to 32.
“I thought the team did a good job being patient against their zone,” said Olson. “We stepped up and hit big shots. Defensively we weren’t great, but we were good enough. It was nice to see us win the turnover margin and the rebounding margin.”
Concordia had four women break into double digit points: graduate student Kendal Brigham, Leu, Kelty, and junior Megan Belt went for 13, 12, 11 and 11 points respectively, making for a very balanced offense throughout the game. Senior Abby Krieser, Brigham, and Leu tied for the most assists at three apiece. Kelty had the most rebounds at eight.
“It feels really good. The [Great Plains Athletic Conference] is loaded with talent,” said Brigham in an interview with Director of Athletic Communications Jake Knabel. “Any win is a great win. One thing we really hammered in on is playing fast. People did a really good job of getting the ball out and helping me get the ball up the court. It helped us be in the place we needed to be.”
The first quarter was when the race seemed the closest, ending at 23-22, ever so slightly in the Bulldogs’ favor. Concordia stayed just ahead of Morningside via a combination of a few good three-pointers and edging the Mustangs out on free throw shots. Throughout the game came, these came to a free throw percentage of close to 95 percent.
The Bulldogs’ offense took off in the second and third quarters. Concordia put up 16 in the second and 20 in the third and limited Morningside to 10 points in both aforementioned quarters.
The Mustangs take a few more points than the Bulldogs in the fourth, but only by a slim margin. As their two long shots and several good free throws got past Concordia’s defense, their 18 points to Concordia’s 15 pushed the final score to 62-74.
This win puts Concordia at 3-1 for the overall season, and 1-0 in the GPAC. The Bulldogs’ next game is another one at home in Friedrich Arena against the College of Saint Mary Flames on November 20 at 7 p.m.
