Women’s basketball takes second loss to Briar Cliff Chargers, 54-42
Graduate student guard Kendal Brigham (32) prepares to receive a pass from a teammate (photo from previous game).
Photo credit: Josiah Seabaugh
By Isaac Dawson
No. 5 Concordia Women’s Basketball took their second loss in a row on Saturday to the No. 12 Briar Cliff Chargers with a final score of 54-42.
Coach Drew Olson’s team now stands at 5-4 for the overall season and 3-3 in the Great Plains Athletic Conference.
The Bulldogs lost the lead to Briar Cliff in the second quarter to a persistent and aggressive Charger’s offense that Concordia just couldn’t keep up with.
Shooting averages suffered on each side. The Bulldogs put up 14-48 field goals and 3-13 in three-point attempts while Briar Cliff fared a little better at 23-63 and 5-19. Concordia’s loss came from being behind in a combination of important edges in the stat cards. The Chargers used Bulldog turnovers to great advantage to score 20 points to Concordia’s 11 and snag 40 rebounds to Concordia’s 32.
Sophomore Raelyn Kelty and junior Kristin Vieselmeyer tied for the top scoring position with nine points apiece. Senior Abby Krieser and sophomore Sammy Leu followed up with eight each, Leu also taking the most assists at two and Kelty snatching the most rebounds at eight with seven being defensive.
“They just played really up in our business and really tight and I think just as a team we needed to come together and play a bit better,” said Kelty, “but we played some of the best defense that we have all year.”
The first quarter was essentially a stalemate as neither team could push past the other’s defense. Shots politely refused to go in the basket on each end of the court and Concordia pulled just ahead of the Chargers at 7-6 with a three pointer from Krieser.
Quarters two and three saw Briar Cliff take the lead early in the second and hold on to it to stay about 5 points ahead the entire time. The Bulldogs’ offense almost managed to start creeping back up in the third quarter with 15 points to the Charger’s 14.
Concordia’s defense slipped in the fourth quarter allowing Briar Cliff to take off running with the game. After the Bulldogs scored a few early points, Briar Cliff went on a nine-point streak to take the game to 51-38. Concordia’s subsequent attempts to bring the game back were rebuffed by a tight Charger defense to end the game at 54-42.
The Bulldogs next play the Hastings College Broncos at 6 p.m. on December 11 in back in Friedrich arena for another home game.
