SEWARD, Neb. – A couple of short road trips will make up this week’s slate as the Concordia University Women’s Basketball team will stay within the state of Nebraska. Now 10-2 over their last 12 GPAC games, the Bulldogs will take their act on the road against Doane on Wednesday and College of Saint Mary on Saturday. In last week’s action, Concordia earned a 102-64 win at Midland before falling, 76-69, in a wire-to-wire clash with fourth-ranked Dordt. Head Coach Drew Olson’s squad enters this week in a tie for fourth place in the GPAC standings at 12-6 in league play (16-8 overall). The current top three in the league standings are Dordt (17-1), Jamestown (14-4) and Briar Cliff (13-5).
This Week
Wednesday, Feb. 8 at Doane (13-11, 7-11 GPAC), 6 p.m.
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Saturday, Feb. 11 at College of Saint Mary (5-19, 2-16 GPAC), 2 p.m.
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By the numbers
· The Bulldogs have not been receiving votes in the national poll, but they are in much better shape in regards to the national tournament than the human polls would indicate. In metrics released at the end of January, Concordia was revealed as the No. 22 team in the official RPI and has played the 10th best strength of schedule in the NAIA. Additionally, the Bulldogs are rated fifth in the North/Central “ARC Rankings” unveiled on Jan. 30. The top four in the region are currently Dordt, Briar Cliff, Dakota State and Jamestown. Though not an official NAIA metric, Massey Ratings lists Concordia as the No. 17 team in the NAIA. Based on the latest RPI, the Bulldogs’ best wins this season have come over No. 34 Dakota State, No. 43 Northwestern, No. 45 Dakota Wesleyan and No. 53 Morningside (twice).
· Taysha Rushton has enjoyed playing at the Wikert Event Center in Fremont. A year ago, she racked up 26 points in the first half on her way to a 31-point outing in a 101-57 victory at Midland. Déjà vu struck last week as Rushton made her first eight shots and totaled 22 of her 29 points in the first half in leading the 102-64 triumph. Rushton finished 10-for-11 from the floor and an otherworldly 7-for-7 from 3-point range. Abby Krieser also poured in a career high 20 points while adding eight assists, five steals and five rebounds. Off the bench, Kendal Brigham posted 11 points, eight rebounds and five assists. Concordia went 19-for-45 (.422) from 3-point range in the scorching of the Warriors (3-20, 1-17 GPAC).
· The Bulldogs gave No. 4 Dordt (23-1, 17-1 GPAC) their best shot in a suspenseful wire-to-wire battle inside Friedrich Arena. In the end, the Defenders were too much thanks in large part to their 12 offensive rebounds and stingy defensive play down the stretch. Dordt was led by a star trio of Bailey Beckman, Karly Gustafson and Janie Schoonhoven (combined for 54 points). Three Concordia players reached double figures: Sadie Powell (18), Krieser (16) and Rushton (14). Powell also added seven rebounds and three steals in one of her better outings of the season to date. Brigham posted nine points and three assists off the bench. The Defenders (only nine turnovers) managed to neutralize the full-court press.
· With her seven treys at Midland, Rushton hit 200 3-point field goals for her career exactly. The Midland, Texas, native joins six Bulldogs in program history with at least 200 career treys: Kristen Conahan (323), Melissa Tinkham (266), Andrea Janssen (247), Brenleigh Daum (232), Mackenzie Koepke (204) and Bailey Morris (201). Rushton has also jumped to 18th on the program’s all-time scoring list with 1,301 points in 84 games. Rushton has notched additional career totals of 235 rebounds, 232 assists and 137 steals.
· Since the calendar flipped to 2023, the Bulldogs own a record of 9-2 with the lone losses coming on the road at Jamestown and at home to Dordt. Over that 11-game stretch, Concordia has averaged 78.0 points per game and has shot 42.8 percent from the floor while limiting opponents to 59.3 points per game and 34.6 percent shooting. The balance during that run has been striking with five Bulldogs averaging at least 7.6 points: Rushton (13.5), Krieser (11.0), Powell (10.2), Brigham (8.6) and Kristin Vieslemeyer (7.6). Turnover margin has also been a key to that 9-2 mark as Concordia has forced 213 turnovers and committed only 146 over that time period.
· In terms of the defensive efficiency metric, the Bulldogs (.827) have been the most difficult team in the league to score against on a possession basis. The metric measure points per possession allowed. The surge Concordia has been on has also pushed its GPAC rankings to third in field goal percentage defense (.384) and to fifth in scoring defense (62.5). The Bulldogs continue to force more turnovers per game (20.3) than any other GPAC squad. Individually, both Krieser (2.0 spg) and Mackenzie Toomey (2.0 spg) rank in the top 10 of the conference in terms of steals per game.
The opponents
Doane has continued to trend upward in comparison to recent seasons. Head Coach Ryan Baumgartner has helped the Tigers put behind a 2-25 campaign in 2019-20 while jumping to 13-11 so far in 2022-23. The program’s rise has certainly been aided by the arrival of Mak Hatcliff, who leads the GPAC in scoring at 22.1 points per game (No. 5 in the NAIA). The high point of the season to date came on Jan. 11 when the Tigers upset then No. 3 Dordt, 71-66, behind 21 points from Hatcliff. Things have been a bit up and down with Doane having gone 2-5 over its past seven GPAC outings. The Tigers are averaging 77.2 points per game while allowing 72.7 per contest. The 72-55 Concordia win over Doane (in Seward) on Dec. 15 pushed the Bulldogs’ series win streak to 13.
College of Saint Mary enters the week with a six-game GPAC skid since its 66-63 home win over Hastings on Jan. 14. The Flames showed improvement last season when they finished at 13-15 overall (7-15 GPAC). Those win totals are out of reach this 2022-23 season. The Flames struggle to score, as evidenced by their average of 55.9 points per game. The highest individual scorer is Madelyn Turner at 9.4 points per game. Head Coach Kirk Walker’s squad has beaten Hastings twice this season. In this season’s meeting with Concordia that took place inside Friedrich Arena, the Bulldogs won by a 74-54 score and have triumphed in each of the past 21 meetings with the Flames.
Probable starters
Concordia (16-8, 12-6 GPAC)
G – Abby Krieser (9.1)
G – Taysha Rushton (14.3)
G – Mackenzie Toomey (6.3)
F – Abby Heemstra (4.7)
F – Sadie Powell (10.0)
Head Coach: Drew Olson (439-129, 17th season at CUNE)
Doane (13-11, 7-11 GPAC)
G – Mak Hatcliff (22.1)
G – Macy Holtz (14.8)
G – Rylie Rice (8.0)
G – Libby Trausch (7.9)
F – Megan Chambers (9.5)
Head Coach: Ryan Baumgartner (4th season)
College of Saint Mary (5-19, 2-16 GPAC)
G – Kenzi Hoit (8.3)
G – Allisa Schubert (4.6)
G – Bailey White (8.7)
G/F – Madelyn Turner (6.8)
F – Clare Lewandowski (6.8)
Head Coach: Kirk Walker (5th season)
Next week
Next week will mark the close of the regular season as the Bulldogs will host 18th-ranked Briar Cliff on Feb. 15 before heading to Dakota Wesleyan on Feb. 18. Concordia will recognize senior Taylor Farrell as part of the evening on Feb. 15.