Women’s basketball shines offensively and defensively against Flames, 87-53

Sophomore guard Joclyn Bassett (22) dribbles the ball down the court (photo from previous game).

Photo credit: Josiah Seabaugh

By Cohen Carpenter

While Bulldogs may have been the name plastered on the front of their jerseys, Concordia looked far more reminiscent of greyhounds Wednesday night in a game versus the College of Saint Mary’s in which they dominated both sides of the ball in every quarter resulting in an 87-53 rout.

Concordia out-stole the Flames 28 to 11, out-rebounded the Flames 49 to 31 and out-blocked the Flames 10 to seven—all the while, maintaining a full-court press defense for a majority of the game – a result head coach Drew Olson was quite proud of.

“After what we did against Morningside, I knew we wanted to have a better focus defensively,” said Olson after the game. “More active hands, more energy; I thought we did a really good job tonight to put pressure on them early and build a nice lead.”

Concordia was scoring early and often Wednesday night. Leading the way for the Bulldogs in the scoring department was Sammy Leu. Perhaps better known for her three-point shooting ability, the sophomore didn’t mind doing business in the paint—with only three of her team-high 15 points coming from downtown.

“Sammy is doing a great job not settling for always taking threes,” said Olson. “She is so good around the rim and does a great job using her body. She is starting to get confident in that. She is a good shooter, but we also like her inside and she’s doing a lot of good things there.”

Leu wasn’t the only one in on the action. In fact, last night every player on the roster got on the scoreboard, including Savannah Butterfield and Jordan Ernstmeyer, a freshman and sophomore who both snagged their first varsity baskets Wednesday night—Butterfield via a layup and Ernstmeyer with a mid-range fade-away jumper.

Another fresh face got big minutes for the Bulldogs. Makynna Robbins, a freshman guard in her first year at Concordia, logged 21 minutes versus the Flames, the second most on the team. The Houston product went 3-8 from the field with six points and ended up leading the team with six rebounds.

Sophomore Bree Bunting, another young Bulldog, led the squad with five blocks and five rebounds with six points to boot. The Colorado native saw the most minutes, 22, last night.

The team’s younger members have the vets to thank for building an early lead and allowing for quick substitutions. Senior guard Abby Krieser made all three of her threes, finishing with 11 points, four rebounds and a team-leading three steals. Leading the way off the bench was Abby Heemstra. The senior forward also had 11 points to go along with four rebounds.

All in all, the Bulldogs finished the night with 53 bench points, a testament to the depth of the 2024 squad.

“I love the depth of this team,” said Olson. “Makynna [Robbins] and Savannah [Butterfield] are coming along, they just need to get a little more experience. We didn’t have Libby [Hoffman], which kind of stunk tonight to not be able to have her. But we are very confident to play 11 deep, and possibly to play deeper as the season goes.”

Hoffman, a sophomore guard, was injured in the Morningside game.

Saint Mary found their most offensive success against the Bulldogs with the three balls. The Flames went 6-17 from downtown Wednesday night including a second half where they drained 4-8, accounting for a little less than half of their total offensive output. This could be something Concordia will keep their eye on as their next contest sees them traveling to Dordt, the number one ranked team in the nation that is currently shooting north of 34 percent from three this season.

“It will be a defensive test, [Dordt] is very good,” said Olson. “[Macy] Sievers is one of the best point guards in general and Janie [Van Donge] is just an incredible post—they’re a really tough due that we have to be ready to stop.”

Van Donge, Dordt’s senior forward, is currently second in the conference averaging 22.3 points per game, and first in rebounds averaging 11.7. Sievers, Dordt’s junior guard and co-headliner, is more of a facilitator. While she ranks 10th in the conference with 15.5 points a game, her impact is really felt away from the rim, ranking first in the Great Plains Athletic Conference with 7.3 assists a game and second with 3.5 steals a game.

Dordt’s top-heavy attack is set to face off versus Concordia’s well-rounded approach in a top five bout, with the No. 5 Bulldogs traveling to the No. 1 Defenders. Tip-off in Sioux Center is scheduled for 2 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 23.