Women’s basketball ends month of January with 71-57 win and a four-game streak
Senior forward Abby Heemstra (13) pushes against an opponent to put up a shot (photo from previous game).
Photo credit: Josiah Seabaugh
By Cohen Carpenter
Concordia women’s basketball put a bow on the first month of 2025, rounding out January with a four-game win streak bookended with much-needed conference victories – their most recent win coming 71-57 over the Midland Warriors Wednesday night.
Early on, Concordia showed no interest in having this contest come down to the wire, boasting 24-13 and 24-14 advantages in the first and second quarters – something head coach Drew Olson had emphasized earlier in the season.
“We started off really, really well,” said Olson. “Offensively, we were clicking. The first half is kind of who I expected us to be in this game.”
Through 30 minutes of game action, a number of Bulldogs managed impressive box score numbers. Senior Abby Krieser was her usual jolt of energy with her 11 halftime points coming at the expense of the Warriors’ post defense, three steals and two assists. Her fellow starter, Kendal Brigham was also able to tout the rock at times, with six points and three assists. Off the bench, sophomore Sammy Leu had four points of her own with four assists.
Following two 100-point victories in their past four games (versus the College of St. Mary and Concordia University Chicago), Wednesday night’s bout in Fremont looked to possibly make it three out of four. Alas, the Warriors had other plans – specifically Midland leading scorer, sophomore guard Jenna Webber.
Webber scored 10 of her game-high 20 points in the first frame out of halftime – silencing the Bulldogs with the Warriors winning the third 20-6. What had been a 48-27 game 15 minutes prior, was now a 54-47 game.
“In the third quarter, we started off cold and maybe not as focused as I expect our team to be,” said Olson. “We would have liked to have put the hammer down, but part of that is Midland shot well and continued to fight. They did a good job – they adjusted their defense and that made us do something different. We lost our legs a little in that one quarter, but I think it was just a one-quarter thing. We did a great job responding.”
The Bulldogs were able to right the ship in the game’s final frame, going on an 8-0 run in the game’s final two minutes to put the nail in the Warriors’ coffin. When the dust had settled, Krieser remained the squad’s leading scorer with 14 points on 6-9 shooting, followed closely by junior Kristin Vieselmeyer with 11 points, five assists and six rebounds. All in all, Concordia had 12 Bulldogs notch four or more points in the win.
Crucial to Concordia’s fortunes down the stretch was their ability to take care of the basketball. The Bulldogs were good for 18 total team assists versus Midland, a good number especially considering they only turned the ball over six times. This compared to the Warriors who had 17 team assists and 21 combined turnovers.
Wednesday night’s outcome improved Concordia’s record to 12-10 overall and 7-9 in the conference. Drew Olson’s and company’s quest to get back to .500 in the Great Plains Athletic Conference will continue on this coming Saturday versus Waldorf University.
The Warriors (in purple this time) will bring a 5-15 record into Seward, looking to rinse the bad taste of their past Concordia matchup out of their mouths where the Bulldogs won 98-53 at their place. This time around, tip-off will be in Friedrich Arena at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 1.
