Women’s basketball finishes regular season with narrow loss to Lancers, 68-66
Senior guard Abby Krieser (23) attempts to get around a defender (photo from previous game).
Photo credit: Maddy Peters
By Isaac Dawson
Concordia Women’s Basketball narrowly lost to the Mount Marty University Lancers this Saturday at Mount Marty in Yankton, S.D. in the final game of the regular season with a final score of 68-66.
Neither team had a great shot percentage in the first half. Concordia started off on a rather bipolar track with a good first quarter of 19 points and an unfortunate second quarter with four to total out the shot percentage at 7-24 and 3-13 for threes. Their second half improved greatly with 15-27 and 7-14, but it was not quite enough to secure the win.
The Lancers had a similar story with a lamentable first half and killer recovery. They shot for 11-32 in field goals and 1-9 for threes in the first and 12-30 and 7-13 in the second. They were assisted greatly by 14-23 free throws throughout the match to the Bulldogs’ 12-19.
Sophomore Juliana Jones and graduate student Kendal Brigham tied for the highest score with 12 apiece. Senior Abby Krieser just missed out on the double digit mark with nine points. Jones also had the most assists with three and Brigham got the most rebounds at five.
The first quarter started the game well for Concordia. They took an early lead over the Lancers with a flurry of threes and layups in quick succession. Mount Marty couldn’t catch up with the Bulldog defense forcing a lot of missed shots to end the quarter at 19-10.
The next 10 minutes, however, hurt Concordia rather badly. It was a complete turnaround for the Lancers, who cut down the Concordia lead with brutal efficiency with a 12-point streak off the whistle. The Bulldogs floundered the comeback and only managed to put up four points to end the quarter at 26-23.
The last half of the game was neck and neck. Each team was shooting well enough to keep the other at bay, averaging about 50 percent be it a field goal or three pointer. The Bulldogs pulled off a single extra point over the Lancers when they needed four. This lost them the game by the slimmest of margins with the final score sitting at 68-66 in Mount Marty’s favor.
Coming off a win over Doane on Feb. 19, Coach Olson’s team now stands at 14-14 overall and 9-13 in the Great Plains Athletic Conference. Concordia’s next game is the GPAC Tournament Quarterfinals on Feb. 26, facing the No. 1 Dordt University Defenders in Sioux Center, Iowa at 6 p.m. Concordia took both of its previous matchups with the Defenders to overtime.
