Women’s basketball takes CIT title over Ann Arbor, 66-60
Sophomore guard Joclyn Bassett dribbles the ball down the court, heading for the basket (photo from previous game).
Photo credit: Josiah Seabaugh
By Isaac Dawson
Concordia women’s basketball took the win over the Concordia University Ann Arbor Cardinals in the final match of the Concordia Invitational Tournament on Saturday with a final score of 66-60.
It was a much closer match than the team’s game against Chicago that tested their ability to keep the momentum of the match on their side.
The Bulldogs averaged better shooting in field goals and three-pointers to eke out the win over the Cardinals with 21-52 and 4-12 respectively. Their 19-54 and 4-14 followed by a better free throw percentage at 18-25 wasn’t quite enough to turn the tables on Nebraska’s bucket load of attempts that earned them 20-31 near the end of the game.
Freshman Makynna Robbins came back hungry for more in the second game to score the match high with 17 points and four steals. Two good games in a row earned her the tournament MVP on top of it. Robbins and senior Abby Krieser were both named to the all-tournament team as well.
Following Robbins in scoring terms was junior Kristin Vieselmeyer with 13 points. Krieser and Vieselmeyer tied for most assists with three apiece, and Raelyn Kelty dominated in rebounding with 10.
Going into the first quarter Nebraska started suffering on defense after they were the first to score. They began straight away with a full court press that worked well for a few minutes but couldn’t make up for the lack of an offensive reply. The Cardinals’ offense was able to get a 10-point lead on the Bulldogs with a more successful shooting and passing game. After a point famine on either side Nebraska pulled it back around to 14-13 by the end of the quarter.
Defense improved by a reasonable margin in the second quarter for the Bulldogs. They forced nine turnovers on Ann Arbor. Neither team scored very many points in the second. The Cardinals only managed to put up six with a few layups while Nebraska shot for 12 with the odd layup and some free throws.
The third quarter got physical, with each team making a lot of drives to the basket. The Bulldogs earned some layups off of this while the Cardinals were granted 11 points out of 12 free throw attempts. Several more turnovers by Ann Arbor accompanied by good defense on Nebraska’s end coupled together for a better round for the Cardinals with 19 points to the Bulldogs’ 16.
The final 15 minutes was the highest scoring quarter of the game. Each team was still driving heavily to the basket to result in a lot of free throws and good layups. The last few minutes was a flurry of activity under the basket and a three pointer from Ann Arbor that got them close to tying it up. A few more successful free throws from the Bulldogs with 15 seconds left finalized the score at 66-60 for the win.
The women’s team is back to a winning 11-10 record. The Bulldogs next play the Midland University Warriors in Fremont on Jan. 29 at 6 p.m.