OMAHA, Neb. – The Dawgs stifled the College of Saint Mary offense holding the Flames to 10 first half points in the 88-42 wallop on Wednesday (Feb. 11). Concordia University, Nebraska’s press feasted muscling out 36 turnovers on 20 steals in the Lied Fitness Center. Libby Hoffman buried a career-high 16 points in one half of play.
Head Coach Drew Olson reaches his 16th 20-win season as the roster has climbed to a 20-5 overall slate and a 15-4 GPAC rundown.
“Defensively, we were really good, especially in the first half,” Coach Olson commented. “Really didn’t allow them to get anything easy. Offensively, we were okay, not great. It was a solid game for us. That front line, they work really really hard. With Sammy and Bree, then we go Joclyn, Sara and Abbie. It takes all five of them to do what we do. They did a great job pressuring and causing a lot of problems.”
Up by one (7-6) early, the Bulldogs asserted their dominance with a 21-2 outburst that was bolstered by seven players scoring and eight forced turnovers in navy, including Kristin Vieselmeyer (six points) and Sammy Leu (five points). The front line would continue to eat up space and pressure bad decisions with Concordia’s Vieselmeyer (five) and Ayla Roth (three) waiting pick off steals.
As all five worked together, the defense led to offense as the visitors scored a shocking 39 points off turnovers to the home team’s four. The stingy opposition didn’t allow a made trey until the 1:49 mark remaining in the fourth frame.
With a large advantage in the second half, Hoffman dropped 13 of her 16 points in the fourth quarter going 4-for-7 from 3-point land. The Millard West High product had only reached double figures once this season before having her career night in Omaha.
Olson added, “The percentage is misleading. Libby did an awesome job in that second half. She was fantastic. Outside of her, I’m not sure we shot the ball that great. Libby was a spark. Really fun to see her have that confidence to keep firing.”
The Bulldogs outrebounded the Flames, 42-38, especially on the offensive glass (17-7). Six of Makynna Robbins’ seven grabs came off a missed shot by Concordia. The Seward bench shot 42.5 (34-for-80) percent from the floor with the others out front in points being: Vieselmeyer (12, five rebounds), Leu (12), Gabrielle Wagner (nine), Bree Bunting (seven, three steals), JJ Jones (seven) and Abbie Kromarek (seven).
CSM (3-22, 2-17 GPAC) was led by Jai'La Porter with nine points and 11 rebounds, just shy of a double-double. The Flames shot 35.6 (16-for-45) percent from field goal range. They will face Northwestern in Orange City, Iowa, on Saturday.
Concordia (20-5, 15-4 GPAC) is set to travel to Sioux City to be pitted against Briar Cliff (18-8, 12-7 GPAC) on Saturday. The Dawgs will tip-off at the Newman Flanagan Center at 2 p.m. CT. Concordia won round one, 89-70, in Friedrich Arena.