#3 Concordia returns to GPAC play, travels to Nebraska Wesleyan on Wednesday
Concordia University, now the 3rd-ranked team in the NAIA, gets back to conference play on Wednesday with a road contest at Nebraska Wesleyan. The Bulldogs and Prairie Wolves square off at 6 p.m. in Lincoln.
The Bulldogs claimed the 2012 CIT Championship this past weekend in Chicago. Wins over CU-Wisconsin (98-58) and 6th-ranked CU-Ann Arbor (72-68) pushed the Bulldog record to 22-2 on the year. Concordia moved up two spots and received three first place votes in the latest NAIA Top 25.
GPAC play resumes this week, and the Bulldogs currently sit atop the conference standings with a 12-2 record. The race to the GPAC Championship remains tight, however, as #5 Morningside (12-3 GPAC) and #7 Northwestern College (11-3 GPAC) are close behind. The GPAC still has five teams in the NAIA Top 25 with another team (Mount Marty) receiving votes.
Scouting the Prairie Wolves – NWU is just 5-15 overall and 2-13 in conference play so far this season. Wesleyan has lost eight straight games including losses to Midland (68-52) and Mount Marty (61-55) last week. NWU hasn’t picked up a win since December 30. Offensively, NWU scores just 58.7 points per game. Defensively, the Wolves allow 71.5 points per game. Shea Rasmussen (16.7 ppg) and Mallory Shanahan (12.2 ppg) lead the way offensively for NWU.
Last meeting – Concordia cruised to a 99-48 win over Nebraska Wesleyan back in October. The Bulldogs shot over 50 percent overall from the field and from behind the arc, and NWU finished with 36 turnovers in the contest. Concordia converted those turnovers into 47 points, and the Bulldog bench also totaled 47 points in the victory. Amber Kistler and Kristen Conahan combined for 37 points for Concordia. Shanahan scored eight points to lead the way for the Prairie Wolves.
Broadcast – Nebraska Wesleyan will carry a live video webcast of the women’s game at the following link; http://client.stretchinternet.com/client/nwu.portal
Up next - #7 Northwestern College comes to Seward on Saturday for a 2 p.m. meeting with the Bulldogs.