FOREST CITY, Iowa. – The Bulldogs lit it up from 3-point range with 18 treys in their visit to the Hanson Fieldhouse on Saturday afternoon (Dec. 14). Concordia University, Nebraska Women’s Basketball smoked Waldorf in a 98-55 triumph in the two teams first meeting since the 2008-09 season. Sammy Leu totaled 19 points, Raelyn Kelty tallied a career high (18) point total and Kendal Brigham dished out a double-double (10 pts, 11 asts).
The Bulldogs have managed a 6-5 overall record and a 4-4 GPAC showing.
“It was good to get a win and see the ball go in the hoop,” said Head Coach Drew Olson. “For the most part we played well. We had some stretches where we weren’t as good defensively as I would like, but I felt like it was a good response to how we have been playing.”
Falling in its past three games, Concordia looked to bounce back and came out with a laser focus in the opening frame. After giving up five points in the start, the Bulldogs responded with a 17-2 suffocating run with Kristin Vieselmeyer dropping seven early.
Megan Belt and Leu dropped back to back treys finishing the first 10 with six from beyond the arc. Of the 18 3-pointers, eight different players would make from long range with the majority coming from Leu (five), Belt (three), Brigham (two), Abby Krieser (two), Bree Bunting (two) and Libby Hoffman (two). The Wahoo High product, Leu, would hit 62.5 percent (5-for-8 3-PT) and just one point shy of tying her collegiate high.
Coming out of the break with a 44-30 advantage, the Bulldogs didn’t let up as Leu (10) and Raelyn Kelty (nine) took over in the third quarter and pushed the game seemingly out of reach (74-46). Kelty, a Kiowa, Colo., native would end with a rebound short of a double-double (nine).
Coach Olson said, “Sammy has been really good over the last few games. It was really awesome to see her have a big game like today. Rae (Kelty) had a great response too. Today, she was awesome. The effort was there. Kendal had a solid game but it was her leadership. It was her talking to the team and making sure we stayed focused.”
The Seward squad shot its second highest percentage (49.3) of the season and 40.9 (18-for-44) from three. Concordia dominated rebounds on the glass (42-30), assists (25-16), turnovers (11-21), points off turnovers (33-15) and second chance points (19-9).
Abby Heemstra and Brigham collected five rebounds apiece as Belt (nine) and Krieser (eight) followed the top three in points. Coach Olson played all 14 from the Bulldogs team.
Waldorf (2-8, 1-6 GPAC) was led by Alyah Abrahamson (13) and Edosa Ogbemudia (11) as the two Warriors to hit double figures. Myia Ruzek was headed towards a double-double with eight points and nine rebounds. The home team will face Judson University (Ill.) in their upcoming game.
Concordia (6-5) will make its way to Riverside, Calif., to face La Sierra University (2-5) on Friday (Dec. 20) in the final game of 2024. Tip-off is set for 3 p.m. CT.