SEWARD, Neb. – Both meetings this season have needed overtime to decide a winner – and both times the defending national champion Defenders found a way. In the latest white knuckler, top-ranked Dordt overcame a deficit in the final minute of overtime and survived the upset scare on the road, 88-85. Sparkplug guard Kendal Brigham spurred the second-half surge that saw the 14th-ranked Concordia University, Nebraska Women’s Basketball team rally back from a 12-point deficit on Saturday (Jan. 4) afternoon inside Friedrich Arena.
Head Coach Drew Olson’s squad slumped to 7-7 overall (4-6 GPAC) despite an encouraging performance. The Bulldogs have already played six games against nationally ranked opponents.
“I’m proud of our group,” Olson said. “This is a group that never gives up. They fight like crazy. They’re staying together. We’ve had a couple really close games, and we just haven’t come out on the positive end of it. That does not affect how they respond in the next game. We feel really good about how we’re playing and what we’re doing. If we stick to it, I know those results are going to change.”
Roughly a month-and-a-half after seemingly having Dordt on the ropes in Sioux Center, Concordia edged in front of the Defenders, 85-84, at the 1:04 mark of overtime when Brigham nailed a cold-blooded step-back triple. Dordt star Macy Sievers responded immediately by attacking, drawing a foul and draining two free throws. Moments later, the Defender lead grew to 88-85 with two Gracie Schoonhoven free throws. The Bulldogs had one last gasp when Abby Krieser stole an in-bounds pass and missed at the buzzer from beyond half court. Concordia had previously clanked two potentially game-changing treys in the final minute of overtime.
Such a dramatic conclusion appeared unlikely late in the third quarter when Dordt pushed its lead to 55-43 on a Desta Hoogendoorn bucket in the paint. After a slow start, Brigham heated up. She poured in a triple at the 1:34 mark of the third period and then ended the frame with a running half-court buzzer beater. Suddenly, the Bulldogs had seized momentum and trailed by only five (59-54). Brigham finished with 17 points (6-for-11 from the floor) while flourishing alongside Kristin Vieselmeyer, who notched a team-high 18 points. It was a Vieselmeyer basket in the final seconds of regulation that forced overtime.
Both teams shot efficiently in the second half, during which Concordia made 7-of-18 tries from 3-point range and 12-of-15 attempts from the foul line. Krieser added 11 points and five rebounds and Raelyn Kelty piled up 13 points, six rebounds and three assists. Vieselmeyer canned 7-of-8 shots from the foul line and the bench trio of Bree Bunting, Abby Heemstra and Sammy Leu combined for 17 points. Collectively, they helped the Bulldogs find traction up against an aggressive Dordt defense that showed mixes of zone and man-to-man.
Said Olson, “This is what we wanted to see – not just two or three players playing well. It was a collective group. We got great production from Kristin and Kendal, but I thought Rae stepped up and played really well. She shot confidently. AK was phenomenal. Off the bench, getting production from JJ (Jones), Bree and Abby is really big for our team. We just have to keep doing that moving forward.”
Dordt remains unscathed at 15-0 (9-0 GPAC). Gracie Schoonhoven consistently finished with traffic in the lane and topped all players with 20 points. Teammates in Sievers (14 points and 12 assists) and Janie Van Donge (16 points and 14 rebounds) both collected double-doubles. The Defenders shot 52.5 percent (32-for-61) overall and owned a 38-30 rebounding advantage. Dordt was coming off a 95-37 home win over Doane.
The Bulldogs will be headed to Doane (11-4, 6-3 GPAC) on Wednesday for a 6 p.m. CT tipoff at the Haddix Center in Crete. Concordia has won each of the past 16 series meetings with the rival Tigers. In Saturday’s action, Doane got back on track with a 73-71 win while hosting Morningside.