Women’s basketball loses a close game against Tigers, 74-65

Junior forward Kristin Vieselmeyer (44) passes the ball around a defender to senior guard Abby Krieser (23).

Photo credit: Maddy Peters

By Maddy Peters

Sports Editor

The Concordia women’s basketball team lost a close 74-65 game against the Dakota Wesleyan University Tigers Saturday afternoon in Friedrich Arena.

The team celebrated senior day by honoring two seniors Abby Heemstra and Abby Krieser during the halftime of the men’s game.

“Everyone has just been so amazing,” said Krieser. “The friendships built are just the best part about basketball, honestly. But it just makes me a better person; each person I know I’m gonna be lifelong friends with all of them.”

Dakota Wesleyan took the lead in the first quarter and never gave it up, but Concordia made them work to keep it the whole game. At the end of the first quarter, it appeared that the Tigers were going to run away with the game with double digit leads. Dakota Wesleyan came out on top with a 16-8 lead to cushion whatever the Bulldogs could throw at them.

The Tigers appreciated that gap as the Bulldogs whittled the lead down to a two-possession ballgame. Dakota Wesleyan was able to double their points, but Concordia dropped 20 points to make the score 32-28 heading into the locker room.

Dakota Wesleyan’s lead remained thin throughout the third quarter with Concordia only allowing the deficit to six points. The Tigers found their footing in the fourth quarter, however, and took back their comfortable lead to end the game nine points ahead.

Krieser was the top scorer of the night with 21 points to her name. She also led the team in assists alongside graduate student Kendall Brigham with four apiece. Sophomore Bree Bunting was the next top scorer with 14 points with a 6-8 field goal ratio. Junior Kristin Vieselmeyer was the last Bulldog in double digits with 10 points.

Much like the team’s game with Hastings College a few days earlier, the team struggled with shooting, and it showed in the final score.

“It was really back and forth, we played really hard, we played all the way to the fourth quarter,” said Krieser. “Their shots fell, ours didn’t, but we worked hard the whole game.”

The team had a 15-32 field goal ratio and outshot the Tigers 9-25. However, Concordia made zero out of its nine three-pointer attempts and Dakota Wesleyan had a staggering 20-22 free throw ratio to put the Tigers on top.

The teams matched their rebounds counts and especially in those offensive rebounds the Bulldogs had struggled so much with. Concordia finished the game with 10 offensive rebounds and Dakota Wesleyan 12. Sophomore Sammy Leu led the team in rebounds with five—two offensive and three defensive.

“We’ve struggled early on in the season with that, but this game I feel like we did a better job at finding a body and boxing out because we were playing a zone,” said Krieser. “But we struggled a bit with that [second chance points] but we found ways to score on the other end which helped.”

The team now has a 13-13 overall record and 8-12 record in the Great Plains Athletic Conference. The team next plays Doane University on Feb. 19 in Friedrich Arena. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m.