Women’s basketball finishes season against Dordt Defenders with away game loss

Senior guard Abby Krieser (23) takes the ball around to figure where to slot in a shot (photo from previous game).

Photo credit: Maddy Peters

By Cohen Carpenter

Concordia’s third bout of the season with the Dordt proved to be the last as the Bulldogs were handled by the Defenders 80-66 in Sioux Center Wednesday night in the opening round of the Great Plains Athletic Conference tournament.

Bill Harmsen, Dordt’s head coach, in the week leading up to the opening round of the GPAC tournament had referred to Concordia as, “the best number eight seed in any postseason conference tournament in the NAIA.”

While it is indeed commonplace for coaches to sing their opponents praises prior to matchups, Harmsen did in fact have some close calls with the Bulldogs this season. His No. 1 ranked Defenders were taken to overtime not once but twice by Concordia in contests where it can be assumed Dordt was the overwhelming favorite. Coach Drew Olson’s Bulldogs were looking for a little more of that same tenacity in this third go-around.

“We’ve had a couple of really close games against this team; we just haven’t come out on the positive end of it,” said Olson on January 4 after Concordia’s second overtime loss versus the Defenders. “But that doesn’t affect how we respond to the next game. We feel really good about how we are playing and what we’re doing. If we stick to it, those results are going to change.”

Safe to say, the Bulldogs happily invited the challenge when they drew Dordt in the first round of the conference tournament – a chance to finally get one over on the GPAC’s top dog. That reality seemed more alive than ever Wednesday night as the game drew closer to halftime.

Through the first two quarters of play, Concordia was unsurprisingly neck and neck once more with the Defenders, walking into the locker room with a one point deficit in a 33-34 game. While in previous matchups the Bulldogs relied on their stifling defense, it was the offense which gave Dordt fits early one. Concordia shot 45.5 percent from three (5-11) to open the game while Dordt could only manage 30 percent (3-10). While only representing a two-shot difference, every point weighs more in the playoffs.

Key in the early going was sophomore Raelyn Kelty. Concordia’s usual starting forward had been absent in the final starting lineups of the regular season, nursing a lower-body injury, but managed to play big minutes versus the Defenders. The Kiowa, Colorado native drained each of her first three shots, all of which were from beyond the arch.

Similarly, fellow Coloradoan Kristin Vieselmeyer was active early, with the junior forward scoring six points in the first. Vieselmeyer seemed to be on track to replicate her efforts from her last game in the De Witt Gymnasium where on November 23 she scored a season high 27 points versus the Defenders early in the season.

This was not to be. Dordt went on a 13-0 run early in the third quarter and proceeded to outscore the Bulldogs 22 to 16 in the game’s final frame. While Concordia’s offense didn’t exactly go dormant, there was simply not enough production to compete with Dordt’s onslaught. The Defender’s leading scorer, guard Macy Sievers, who had been held in check in Concordia’s prior matchups, went off late with the junior scoring 14 of her 20 game-high points in the second half.

All-in-all, the Dordt had five Defenders in double figures. Meanwhile, Concordia had only two. Kelty was only able to muster one more point after her barrage in the opening half while junior Megan Belt arguably had her best game of the season. The Papillion native, who has worked her way into the starting lineup in recent weeks due to her distance shooting, notched 17 points Wednesday night, 15 of which came from downtown.

Another of the Bulldog’s boogeymen reared its ugly head, as the Defender’s outrebounded the Bulldogs 39-29, a notable trend in some of Concordia’s recent losses.

While a selection to the NAIA national tournament is not out of the realm of possibility, an opening round loss in the conference tournament and a middling record likely seals the deal on Concordia’s 2024-2025 season.

“This was a really weird season,” said Olson to Jake Knabel after the game. “This is a good team. We had a lot of bad breaks and a lot of heartaches. We just needed some more things to go our way to be able to keep playing and go to the national tournament. The margin to get there is small. I’m proud of our team. We fought every game. We got a lot to be proud of and a lot to learn from.”