SEWARD, Neb. – The No. 5 Bulldogs registered their third conference triumph over Midland on Tuesday night (Nov. 26) inside Friedrich Arena. Concordia University, Nebraska Women’s Basketball swarmed the visiting Warriors taking 45 points off turnovers in the 92-41 route. Kendal Brigham was the lead Dawg with 19 points surpassing 1,000 in her career.
Head Coach Drew Olson’s squad is 5-2 overall and 3-1 in the GPAC through four games.
“It was really nice to see”, said Coach Olson. “The group at the end did an awesome job of playing aggressively and playing together. It’s easy to let up a little bit in those moments but they did a great job taking advantage of the opportunity to go play and show us what they can do. They play really hard in practice every day and push each other. We are so competitive in practice, that helps them continue to develop.”
The ravaging Bulldog defense forced 22 first half turnovers (34 total) running out to a 20-point lead (40-20) by the halftime break. The Warriors had cut the lead down to 10 but Libby Hoffman bottomed back-to-back treys after entering the game only six seconds earlier pushing the lead back to 16 (31-15).
With 7:48 left in the 3rd, Brigham stole the ball and sprinted off to the races finishing a layup breaking through the 1,000 point barrier. The Wahoo, Neb., native was lighting in a bottle in the third frame, scoring 12 in the 10 minutes. It was a great day to be a Brigham as her younger brother Kip won a state title in football earlier today for Wahoo High School.
Coach Olson said, “Really happy for her, she deserves those kinds of moments. She doesn’t always like the limelight, but it's good to give her that every once in a while. It was cool how the bench reacted, and the fans were ready to acknowledge her accomplishment.”
Brigham said, “It’s always a little hard when you are about to go on break, you never really know what you are gonna get. We had a really strong performance, and that was really good. This leads the way to play good after the break as well. It’s really cool, but the coolest part is getting to celebrate with my teammates and how excited they are for me. I could not do it without them.”
With a 79-37 lead going into the fourth, the bench continued to extend the difference with a 23-4 fourth quarter. Makynna Robbins went 3-for-3 (six points) in the last 10 and totaled 10 points for the game. Bree Bunting (four), Savannah Butterfield (five) and Jordan Ernstmeyer (three) piled on and the Lincoln Lutheran product added eight rebounds in eight minutes of play.
Hoffman finished with nine points and recovered five off the glass. Abby Krieser (five), Brigham (four) and Sammy Leu (three) led the team in steals as Concordia shot 50.7 percent (35-of-69) from the field compared to Midland’s 23.7 (14-of-59).
The Warriors (1-6, 1-3 GPAC) were led by Grace Holm (15) and Zoey Sims (seven) in points and in steals (two). Midland will try to bounce back versus Jamestown on Saturday.
Concordia (5-2, 3-1 GPAC) will take on Morningside (4-3, 2-2 GPAC) in Sioux City next Wednesday (Dec. 4). Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. CT inside Rosen Verdoorn Sports Center. The Bulldogs bested the Mustangs (74-62) in the previous game at Friedrich Arena.