SEWARD, Neb. – Just one contest will be on the plate for Thanksgiving week. The top-ranked Concordia University women’s basketball team will be at College of Saint Mary on Tuesday for a 6 p.m. CT tipoff in Omaha. The Flames are home to the Lied Fitness Center.
This Week
Tuesday, Nov. 20 at College of Saint Mary (1-7, 0-3), 6 p.m.
-Webcast: Stretch Internet
-Radio: 104.9 Max Country
College of Saint Mary will have to avoid the pitfalls that have plagued many of the first eight opponents for head coach Drew Olson’s squad. The tenacious Bulldog press has been wreaking havoc again this season. Entering the week, Concordia (8-0, 4-0 GPAC) tops all NAIA Division II women’s basketball teams in steals per game (23.1) and turnover margin (+17.4). In two more victories over nationally-ranked opponents last week, the Bulldogs forced 29 turnovers from both No. 13 Hastings and No. 16 Jamestown. Each Concordia foe has committed at least 21 turnovers with an average of 36.0 turnovers per game.
Transfer point guard Grace Barry has been the catalyst for a program that has started 8-0 for the fifth time during Olson’s 13 seasons. Barry currently boasts national rankings of first in steals per game (4.63) and fourth in assists per game (5.75) while also operating as an efficient scorer (51.9 percent shooting from the floor). Barry has teamed up Taylor Cockerill on a terrific backcourt. Combined, they have recorded 68 assists compared to 34 turnovers. Cockerill is the team’s leading scorer at 16.5 points per game.
Senior Quinn Wragge is on the verge of becoming the 10th player in program history to reach 1,500 career points. She’s now at 1,485 after putting up 14 versus Hastings and 12 against Jamestown. Last season Concordia had five different players eclipse 1,000 career points. Wragge and Philly Lammers (1,120 career points) are the only current 1,000-point scorers on the roster. Additionally, Wragge has moved to No. 9 on the program’s all-time rebounding list with 672 career boards. Lammers at No. 17 on that same list with 616 rebounds.
College of Saint Mary has a new head coach in Kirk Walker, a former assistant at the University of Nebraska Omaha. The program has slipped since going 27-7 and qualifying for the national tournament in 2014-15. The Flames went 5-25 last season and are off to a 1-7 start in 2018-19. Last season’s matchups with Concordia resulted in Bulldog wins by scores of 114-56 and 86-57. So far, College of Saint Mary has averaged 63.1 points and shot 38.7 percent from the floor. The team’s leading scorers are Corryne Millet (11.9 ppg) and Trista Merrival (11.5 ppg).
Projected Starters
(Scoring average in parentheses)
Concordia (8-0, 4-0)
G – Grace Barry, Jr., 5-7 (12.1)
G – Taylor Cockerill, So., 5-9 (16.5)
G – Riley Sibbel, Jr., 5-9 (5.3)
F – Quinn Wragge, Sr., 6-0 (13.1)
F – Philly Lammers, Jr., 5-11 (13.3)
College of Saint Mary (1-7, 0-3)
G – Lynsey Curran, Jr., 5-5 (8.9)
G – Alyssa Laudato, Jr., 5-0 (8.8)
G – Trista Merrival, Jr., 5-6 (11.5)
F – Corryne Millett, Sr., 6-1 (11.9)
F – Ashley Nelson, Sr., 5-9 (7.4)