SEWARD, Neb. – The 12th-ranked Concordia women’s basketball team dominated Grace University Thursday night in an 85-50 victory. The Bulldogs shot .478 on the night with all players getting minutes.
The Bulldogs improve to 19-6 overall while the Royals fall to 7-19.
Head coach Drew Olson said, “I was really happy with how we played. In the first quarter I don’t think we scored as well as we can. The second, third and fourth quarters I thought we hit shots and played really well. Overall, our defense was really good the whole game.”
Shooting .478 from the field, Concordia made 10 3-pointers. The Royals shot .405 from the field but took just 42 shots compared to the Bulldogs’ 69. Concordia outrebounded Grace 43-26 and grabbed 16 offensive boards.
Leading in the scoring column was freshman Quinn Wragge with 12 points. Wragge played just 15 minutes and went 6-7 from the field. Aubri Bro made three-of-five from behind the arc and scored 11 total points. Bro also grabbed four rebounds. Also scoring 11 was Erin Vieselmeyer who had five boards and dished out two assists. Sophomore Jade Gottier scored 10 and tacked on four assists to her line.
The stingy Concordia defense was able to force 30 turnovers and get 25 points off of those. The Bulldog bench tallied 41 points in the contest.
“Everybody has the ability to play,” Olson said. “Sometimes it’s based on matchups on who plays the big minutes. I’m very confident in all of them. Jenna (Lehmann) played well. Carissa Gutz had great energy and a spark off the bench so hopefully we can continue that.”
The Bulldogs got out to a rocky start in the first quarter, trailing by as much as seven and not gaining the lead until more than eight minutes had passed. A 3-pointer from Shelby Quinn gave the ‘Dogs their first lead of the game. About half way through the second period, Brenleigh Daum hit a trey to put the Bulldogs up by 11. Concordia had a double digit lead the rest of the game.
Three and a half minutes into the second half, Olson benched his starters and showed off the depth of his team. Sydney Feller hit a shot from behind the arc late in the third quarter to put the Bulldogs up by 22. Concordia then went on a 5-0 run to close out the quarter.
During the final quarter, the Bulldogs outscored the Royals, 17-8. Thanks to a 3-pointer from Bro and a pair of free throws from Gottier, Concordia again went on a 5-0 run to end the contest.
“It’s good to get confidence. Sydney Feller and Jade Gottier hit some three’s to build that confidence so that going into the next the game, maybe they can knock down some shots for us,” Olson said.
The No. 12 Concordia women’s basketball team will be back in action this Saturday as it takes on second-ranked Morningside College. The game in Sioux City, Iowa is set to begin at 2 p.m. Earlier this season the Bulldogs were handed a 77-66 loss in Seward from the Mustangs.