Women’s basketball loses narrowly to Northwestern, 74-73

Senior guard Abby Krieser (23) looks to pass the ball to an open teammate (photo from previous game).

Photo credit: Josiah Seabaugh

By Isaac Dawson

Concordia women’s basketball took a narrow loss in the final seconds of the match on Saturday in Seward to the Northwestern College Red Raiders with a final score of 74-73.

The Bulldogs was coming off a 19-point win over Mount Marty University hoping to rebound after a rough early season but faltered at the last moment.

Each team pretty well matched the other in terms of field goal percentage. The advantage came in the form of Northwestern’s slightly higher three-pointer and free throw count. Concordia went for 27-58 field goals overall and 8-23 three-pointers while the Raiders had 26-58 and 9-17. They had 13 successful free throws to Concordia’s 11.

Junior Kristen Vieselmeyer was the leading scorer for Bulldogs with 27 points to match her career high. Three other women got the double-digit achievement as well. Graduate student Kendal Brigham put up 15 points and had 7 assists. Senior Abby Krieser had 11, and sophomore Raelyn Kelty had 10 points and nine rebounds. The Northwestern rebound game was a big help to them as well. They managed to edge out Concordia at 38 rebounds to the Bulldogs’ 31.

Concordia managed to stay ahead of the Raiders by a hair for most of the game. They took an early lead in the first quarter with good defensive rebounding and timely steals leading to the odd fast break. Defense began to suffer a bit in the second quarter, with Northwestern gradually getting more points per quarter while the Bulldogs’ fourth quarter was just enough to let them get overtaken.

Third quarter saw great back and forth gameplay in the paint. Concordia went for 23 points, but Northwestern managed to keep up with 22, minimizing the damage and keeping the last quarter open to snatch the lead. The Bulldogs almost had it with a six-point streak with five minutes left, but with seconds in the game Concordia couldn’t quite sink the last basket, and the Raiders took the win.

Coach Drew Olson’s team now stands at 8-10 for the overall season and 5-9 in the Great Plains Athletic Conference. The Bulldogs next play the College of Saint Mary at 6 p.m. at Saint Mary on January 22 in Omaha.

The team also looks forward to some non-conference games with the Concordia Invitational Tournament on Jan. 24-25. With a break in Great Plains Athletic Conference competition, the Bulldogs can reset and figure out their next steps.