ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Despite the absence of two starters, the Concordia University, Nebraska Women’s Basketball team put together a thoroughly dominant Friday (Jan. 24) afternoon outing at the 72nd Concordia Invitational Tournament. As part of a 108-67 trouncing of Concordia University Chicago, the Bulldogs lit it up from the perimeter and stifled the opposition with their full-court pressure. Career-high scoring totals were produced by both Makynna Robbins (19) and Bree Bunting (16) and off the bench.
Head Coach Drew Olson’s squad won in blowout fashion for the second time in three days while evening the overall season record at 10-10. Olson’s program is gunning for its 10th CIT championship in a row.
“The first half, we shot really, really well,” Olson said. “They played a zone and we were prepared for it. We did a great job of getting our feet set. We shot lights out, and I thought our defensive pressure was pretty good, especially in that first half. Second half, we took off the press. They have two really good scorers that did a great job. We should have contained them a little better, but overall it was a really good performance.”
CUNE tore apart the CUC zone by making 14 of its 19 3-point field goals in the first half. Bunting rattled off seven-straight points during a second quarter stretch that put the contest out of reach. The backcourt tandem of Kendal Brigham and Abby Krieser rained in three treys apiece in the first half in building the lead to 61-27 at the break. Robbins took it from there with 13 of her 19 points coming after halftime. The lead grew as large as 50 even as CUNE pulled back on the press.
The pressure yielded 16 Cougar first-half turnovers (25 for the game). The aggression of the Bulldogs resulted in at least one steal for 10 different players, led by four from Megan Belt and three from Jordan Ernstmeyer. On the other end, the hottest CUNE perimeter shooters included Libby Hoffman (4-for-8), Bunting (3-for-3), Brigham (3-for-6) and Krieser (3-for-7). Robbins made 7-of-8 shots from the floor and posted six rebounds and three assists. As for Bunting, she reached a career-high for a second-straight outing. In addition to Robbins and Bunting, the team’s double figure scorers were Hoffman (12), Brigham (11) and Krieser (11). Abby Heemstra added nine points and four rebounds.
Said Olson of Bunting and Robbins, “Those two played really well. It’s great to see them take advantage of the opportunities. The past two games they’ve been really good. Hopefully that builds confidence and gets them ready for tomorrow.”
Said Bunting of the CIT experience so far, “It’s been a lot of fun. I love traveling with the team. We have such a great team chemistry, on and off the court, so it’s pretty fun to hang out with the girls. CIT is such a great atmosphere – we have a lot of fans here, which is really cool.”
CUC (1-15) got a game-high 26 points from Khaliah Reid, who made 8-of-14 shots from the floor and 8-of-10 shots from the foul line. The Cougars shot 44.9 percent for the game but couldn’t keep up with the 52.7 percent shooting of CUNE. CUC also got outrebounded, 38-29.
Dominance on the CIT stage is nothing new for the Bulldogs, who have won 19-consecutive CIT games with an average margin of victory of more than 30 points. They also have hit the 100-point mark eight times during the active CIT win streak.
The Bulldogs will look to add to their 32 all-time CIT titles when Saturday’s championship game tips off at 5 p.m. CT / 6 p.m. ET from Cardinal Fieldhouse. The opponent will be the team that emerges as the winner from the matchup between Concordia University Ann Arbor and Concordia University Wisconsin.