SEWARD, Neb. – The No. 5 Bulldogs hosted No. 12 Briar Cliff on Saturday afternoon (Dec. 7) inside Friedrich Arena. With both defenses playing tough, the Chargers were able to keep the home offense at bay in a 54-42 loss against the visitors. Possession came at a premium with the contest totaling 28 turnovers in the 40 minutes.
Concordia University, Nebraska Women’s Basketball falls to 5-4 overall and .500 (3-3) in the GPAC.
“I thought we fought better this game”, said Head Coach Drew Olson. “The effort was there. We held them to 54 points. Usually that’s a win. But we really struggled to score. Part of that is Briar Cliff was great defensively. We need to be better.”
The Dawgs had cut the lead to four (40-36) to start the final quarter but Briar Cliff went on an 11-0 run powered by four different players including five points from Mallie McNair. Concordia would muster up a couple more baskets, but the visitors would respond to complete the double digit win.
Briar Cliff was able to snag 20 points off turnovers to the Bulldogs’ 11 and edge out the home team in the paint (30-22).
Both teams struggled from the field as the Chargers shot 36.5 percent (23-for-63) and CUNE shot 29.2 percent (14-for-48). As the two squads combined for eight made treys (8-for-32), the visitors gathered more chances through an advantage in rebounds (40-32).
Raelyn Kelty and Kristin Vieselmeyer punched in nine apiece with Kelty pacing the Olson’s side in rebounds (eight). Sammy Leu and Abby Krieser dropped eight in the bucket while playing suffocating defense in big stretches to keep the Chargers within range. Leu, a sophomore out of Lincoln, Neb., shot 3-for-4 and hit both chucks from three point land. She also gathered six rebounds.
Juliana Jones was out front in steals (three) and took in four off the glass.
The two squads started slow because of the fast paced defenses and missed shots. They combined for 20 percent shooting (6-for-30) in the first quarter totaling 13 points in the 10 minutes.
Briar Cliff (8-1, 4-1 GPAC) was led by Adrianna Webster (13) and McNair (12) as the only two hitting double figures. Four of the five starters hit six rebounds: Kennedy Benne (eight), Webster (seven), Grace Flanagan (seven) and Rachel Langel (six). The Chargers will face Dordt on Wednesday in Sioux City.
Concordia (5-4, 3-3 GPAC) will look to attack the floor in an upcoming home bout versus Hastings (6-2, 3-2 GPAC) on Wednesday. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. in Seward.