Women’s basketball loses to Briar Cliff Chargers before traveling over break

Photo description: Junior Kendal Brigham maneuvers the ball away from an opponent. 

Photo credit: Kayla Korb (photo from previous game)

Cohen Carpenter

Sower Staff

The seventh-ranked Bulldogs were in Sioux City Saturday afternoon for a highly-anticipated matchup with ninth-ranked Briar Cliff, a contest the Chargers would win 74-66.

In a game that bore a stark resemblance to a contest between the Jamestown Jimmies a week prior, the Concordia offense would flounder out of the gate. In the opening frame, the usually potent Bulldogs offense, which averaged over 80 points a contest before their recent scoring woes, could only muster eight points.

The issue was again the accuracy, as the Bulldogs went a collective 3-18 in the first quarter, missing all eight of their three-point attempts.

But everyone knows you can’t keep a good dog down, especially a good bulldog, and junior Taysha Rushton is just that. Rushton, after scoring half of the team’s points in the first quarter, put up 10 more in the second. By halftime, Rushton was a rebound away from a double-double, scoring 23 points on 8-18 shooting with nine boards and three assists.

Concordia continued to rebound, both figuratively and literally, in the third quarter. With 1:37 left to play in the third frame, the Bulldogs would take the lead for the first time since the opening minutes of the contest, completing a 17-point comeback.

The Bulldogs flipped the switch as Concordia would shoot a much more respectable 16-33 from the field over the course of their comeback. Further helping their cause was their play in the paint as the Bulldogs outscored the Chargers 20-12 in paint points over that same time span while also winning the rebound battle 22-18.

Good things usually don’t last, however, and despite Concordia boasting a four-point lead with four minutes left in the game, costly misses and turnovers let the Chargers back into the game. Briar Cliff outscored the visiting team 25-15 in the final frame as Concordia only shot 5-18 in the final 10 minutes.

Aside from Rushton, Abby Krieser was the second leading scorer on the day as the junior would finish with 11 points on 4-11 shooting — missing all four of her three-point attempts, a team-wide trend.

Aside from Ruston and freshman Sammy Leu (who went 2-7 and 2-5 respectively), the Concordia Bulldogs did not make a three-point attempt and shot 4-21 or 19 percent as a unit from beyond the arch.

The Bulldogs will enjoy a brief hiatus to get their affairs in order after losing two of their last three conference games. Perhaps the Concordia offense, which has been ice-cold at some points over the past three-game stretch, can heat up under the Arizona sun.

The Bulldogs will remain on the road for their next two matchups, first in Prescott, then in Glendale, Arizona where Concordia will play its first non-conference games since the beginning of the season. The first of the two contests will be Dec. 18 versus Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. Tip-off will be at 6:30 p.m.