SEWARD, Neb. – In the top-10 rematch, Concordia University, Nebraska Women’s Basketball came up short in the comeback, 78-69, at the Corn Palace versus No. 9 Dakota Wesleyan on Sunday (Jan. 18). As the No. 10 Bulldogs continually cut the lead to a couple of possessions, the Tigers seemed to always have an answer in the second half. Bree Bunting led the Dawgs in scoring to match her career high 16 points.
CUNE drops to 15-4 overall and 10-3 in the conference. The Bulldogs haven’t defeated the Tigers in Mitchell, S.D., since the 2019-20 season.
“Two really good teams,” Head Coach Drew Olson “I felt like, first half offensively, we couldn’t really do a whole lot. They’re really good at what they do, but we kind of had to adjust some things just to get us more attacking and more to the rim. I felt like we did a better job with that in the second half. But in the second half, we had too many breakdowns. We would cut it to four and they would have a couple of great possessions and answer. I thought our players did a great job of hitting shots to keep us in the game.”
Down 11 (67-56), Concordia clawed back into the contest with an 8-2 scoring frenzy to cut the lead to five, capped with a trey by Ayla Roth. With a minute to play, Rylee Rosenquist started to ice the lead with three separate trips to the free throw line going 6-for-6 from the charity stripe.
Raelyn Kelty’s onslaught of 13 of her 15 points after the half continued to keep the Dawgs within striking distance. Outscoring the Tigers in the second half (42-41), Concordia relied on clutch offensive power by JJ Jones racking up seven of her 13 points (4-for-5 FG) in the third quarter. Jones, out of Millard South High, pulled down a team-leading seven boards with Kelty just behind her at six.
The Bulldogs’ shooting improved with each passing quarter as the first started at 29.4 (5-for-17) percent and ended at 57.1 (8-for-14) percent.
Scoring points in each frame, Bunting contributed throughout the four-quarter battle to spur on the visiting attack in the early going as she finished 7-for-15 from the field. The Kersey, Colo., native met her career high from last season against Concordia University Chicago in the 2025 Concordia Invitational Tournament.
Ayla Roth was the fourth Bulldog to reach double figures (13) as Sammy Leu (six points) tied the game-high four steals.
Dakota Wesleyan’s Avery Broughton was a one-woman wrecking crew in the first half with 16 points and five rebounds. The second-year transfer would end with 23 points, nine rebounds, four steals and three assists. Rosenquist racked up 18 points going 8-for-10 from the free-throw line. The Tigers (15-4, 11-2 GPAC) shot 48.3 (28-for-58) percent and will move up to second in the conference standings.
Concordia (15-4, 10-3 GPAC) will host Midland (3-16, 2-11 GPAC) in the midweek game in Seward, Neb., on Wednesday. The Bulldogs will tip-off at 6 p.m. CT as Coach Olson will look to earn his 500th career win.