2023-24 Record: 27-7 overall, 17-5 GPAC (2nd); NAIA National Round of 16.
Head Coach: Drew Olson (470-140, 18 years; 16 national tournament appearances; 12 GPAC regular season/tournament titles; five national semifinal advancements, including two runners up; 2019 national champions).
Returning Starters: G Abby Krieser; F Kristin Vieselmeyer.
Other Key Returners: G Megan Belt; G Kendal Brigham; G Bree Bunting; F Abby Heemstra; F Raelyn Kelty; G Sammy Leu; G Juliana Jones.
Key Losses: F Sadie Powell; G Taysha Rushton; G Mackenzie Toomey.
2023-24 GPAC All-Conference: Taysha Rushton (First Team); Sadie Powell (First Team); Abby Krieser (Second Team); Kendal Brigham (Honorable Mention); Mackenzie Toomey (Honorable Mention).
2023-24 NAIA All-American: Taysha Rushton (Second Team).
Outlook
Behind an experienced and resilient senior class, the 2023-24 Bulldogs rose as high as No. 6 in the NAIA coaches’ poll and advanced to the final site of the national championship tournament. Thanks in part to the return of graduate student Kendal Brigham for her ‘COVID year,’ the Concordia University, Nebraska Women’s Basketball program holds hopes that it can reach similar heights in 2024-25 with a team that will most certainly look different. Gone are lineup mainstays Sadie Powell, Taysha Rushton and Mackenzie Toomey.
Their departures mean opportunity, particularly for a large crew of sophomore guards expected to take on much larger roles. In the formative month of October, Head Coach Drew Olson’s squad has begun shaping an identity that members of the team will attempt to center upon a theme of selflessness.
Says Olson, who enters his 19th season at the helm of the program, “It’s fun to see the players that have taken a step forward and have shown lots of development. It’s been a lot of them. Our sophomore class has shown really good strides. As far as our identity, I think we’re still trying to figure that out. It’s kind of hard when you don’t have opponents to play to measure up and see if this is something that’s going to work. I do like what we’re doing right now, and we’re just ready to play somebody different.”
The outlook for this season got rosier in late March (not long after last season concluded) when Brigham announced that she would be returning in 2024-25. In terms of style of play, very little will change for the Bulldogs, who will unleash their athletic and frenetically paced backcourt duo of Brigham and senior Abby Krieser upon their foes. Both are well-equipped to play in Olson’s patented system that emphasizes full-court pressure. Though the personnel departures are significant, Concordia returns nine players who saw action in at least 25 varsity games last season.
After coming off the bench throughout her career, Brigham (109 career games, 11 starts) takes the reins as the team’s primary point guard. The Wahoo, Neb., native averaged 11.6 points per game last season while sporting an assist-to-turnover ratio of 2.7-to-1. The 5-foot-5 guard resembles the Road Runner with the way she hits full speed while on the dribble.
Said Olson of Brigham, “It was huge (to get her back). Kendal’s a difference maker with her speed, her toughness, her competitiveness. I think that’s really helped our team start to figure out who we’re going to be this year. Without her, maybe we’d have to do a lot of different things. With her, I think we’re still able to play with great pace.”
Brigham and Krieser can run in transition with the best of them. A Lincoln North Star High School alum, Krieser averaged 9.3 points as a junior and stood out as arguably the GPAC’s top backcourt defender. The Brigham-Krieser duo is about as dynamic as it gets within the league, and perhaps within the entire NAIA.
Says Brigham of playing alongside Krieser, “She’s definitely one of those people where I get the ball and I’m looking up the court and I’m like, ‘Oh my gosh, she’s already down there.’ It’s really fun. She definitely brings the pace up. Defensively, she’s amazing. I don’t know if I’ve ever had a better defender on my team than her. That’s been really fun.”
Krieser is one of two fourth-year seniors on the roster. The other is 6-foot post player Abby Heemstra, who has been a steady paint presence through her first three collegiate seasons. The likes of sharpshooting guard Megan Belt and versatile scorer Kristin Vieselmeyer highlight the junior class. As for the deep group of sophomores, each of the following got their feet wet last season on the varsity team: Joclyn Bassett, Bree Bunting, Juliana Jones (AKA “JJ”), Raelyn Kelty and Sammy Leu. Another sophomore in Libby Hoffman (a strong perimeter shooter) appears primed to make an impact.
Each of those Bulldogs provides something different within the frequent rotations used by Olson. One key is to determine who can spell Brigham at times at the point guard spot. Bunting and Jones are two potential candidates while Krieser is someone capable of sliding into that role. A Millard South High School product, Jones is in line for a major minutes increase after a year of learning and growing as a freshman. Said Olson of the sophomore class, “There are so many of them that are ready to surprise a lot of people.”
According to Brigham, Jones and Kelty have “made huge strides” in preseason practice. The 5-foot-11 Kelty will team up with Heemstra and Vieselmeyer in the post. Though many of the lineups Olson uses could lean heavily on guard play, the work of the Concordia posts will be influential in determining the heights this team can reach. Last season, Vieselmeyer averaged 5.2 points and 2.7 rebounds while Heemstra posted 4.8 points and 2.9 rebounds per game.
“All three are very different types of post players,” Olson said. “We’re able to be versatile because of those three. Kristin’s continuing to be steady with her ability to stretch the defense and her shooting. She’s able to score inside as well. Abby Heemstra is really consistent all the time. Both of them are very good one-on-one players in the post. And then Rae is just super gritty. I think she’s made a lot of improvements.”
Olson fortified the roster with the addition of eight freshmen. How much they can contribute to the varsity in year one remains to be seen, but Olson believes in the potential of the class. A 6-foot-1 guard from the St. Louis area, Savannah Butterfield is among the rookies to keep an eye on. Meanwhile, freshman Makynna Robbins brings plenty of athleticism to the table. Both of her parents were Bulldog athletes (and her uncle is men’s basketball coach Ben Limback).
It's nothing unusual for Olson to graduate All-America level players and to proceed to keep on winning. That’s the plan this winter for a squad pegged second in the GPAC preseason coaches’ poll. As Olson likes to say, “tradition never graduates.”
For Brigham, she’s the last one left standing from the class of freshmen that entered the program in 2020-21. Said Brigham, “It’s really hard to lose those people because they are great basketball players and great people and leaders as well, but Coach does a really good job at recruiting and developing everyone. I think it’s going to look a little different with who we have this year, but I think we’ll have the same identity as a team that plays together, loves transition, plays really hard and presses.”
Throughout the journey, the 2024-25 Bulldogs have committed themselves to remaining selfless no matter the circumstances. Said Olson, “This year it was Kendal, Abby and Abby coming up with the idea of staying focused on being selfless. The verse from Philippians (2:2-5) – what does the joy come from? It’s not our own selfish ambition. It’s doing it for others. I think this group really embodies that. So far throughout practice, it’s been awesome knowing it’s all about the team and team success. It doesn’t matter what role you’re in. You know you have value in your role, but it is all about the team first.”
Concordia will open the season in front of the home fans inside Friedrich Arena as part of the 25th annual Cattle Classic slated for Nov. 1-2. At the Cattle Classic, the Bulldogs will go up against Oklahoma City University and Southern Oregon University, reigning champion of the Cascade Collegiate Conference. The slate will also feature a nonconference clash at Dakota State University (S.D.), a pre-Christmas trip to California and CIT at Concordia University, Ann Arbor. The complete 2024-25 schedule can be found HERE.