 | 88 |
 | 87 |
On Tuesday night the Concordia University, Nebraska women's basketball team pulled out one of its most remarkable victories in recent history when it upset the University of Nebraska-Kearney Lopers, an NCAA Div. II school, 88-87 on a last second bucket by Kristin Miller. The Lopers came into the game ranked No. 25 in the USA Today / WBCA preseason poll while the Bulldogs were ranked No. 7 in NAIA Div. II.
During the first twelve minutes the Lopers jumped out to an eight point lead, 23-15, and the game was heading the way one might have expected. During the next eight minutes, however, Concordia responded with a 22-9 run of its own and surged to a five point lead, 37-32, capped off by a three-pointer by TaLisa Krejci. Nebraska-Kearney shrugged that off with an 11-2 run and headed into halftime with a 43-39 lead.
Nebraska-Kearney controlled the action for the first part of the second half. The Loper lead ballooned to as much as nine before Concordia's offense came alive. Trailing 65-57 with nine minutes remaining, the Bulldog offense was resuscitated by Kearney, Neb., native Melissa Tinkham. Tinkham, an NAIA All-American, sunk two three-pointers and a pair of free throws to bring the Bulldogs within one, 69-68.
The two teams traded baskets for several minutes, with neither team able to pull away, until Concordia's other NAIA All-American, Whitney Stichka, took control offensively and hit a three-pointer with 4:55 remaining. That gave Concordia a 77-75 lead and after two minutes of strong defense by both sides Stichka again hit from long range, increasing the lead to five.
After a Loper timeout, Nebraska-Kearney's Kassi Schuppe missed a three-pointer. Tinkham got the rebound and was subsequently fouled. After making both her free-throws, the Bulldogs held a seven point advantage, 82-75, with three minutes left in the game. After two turnovers by the Bulldogs the Lopers battled back to tie the game at 84-84.
The difference in the game came from the free throw line as the Bulldogs hit on their final two attempts while the Lopers went 1-for-2. With Concordia up by one, Nebraska-Kearney's Jade Means forced a turnover and raced down the court. She would miss her layup attempt, but the Lopers came down with the offensive rebound and Megan Becker scored a layup that put Nebraska-Kearney up 87-86 with just 17 seconds remaining in regulation.
Concordia called its last timeout to draw up a play. The Bulldogs got the ball to Krejci who, with four seconds remaining, fired up a three-point attempt that rattled out. Miller was there to pull down the offensive rebound and put the ball high off the glass and in as the buzzer sounded to give Concordia the 88-87 victory.
Stichka led the Bulldogs offensively with 33 points on 11-of-16 shooting from the field including going 5-of-6 from three-point land as well as being the leading rebounder with eight. Krejci also went for double digits finishing with 26 points while Tinkham finished with 15 points.
The Lopers had their fair share of offensive standouts as Jade Meads finished with 30 points and 13 rebounds while Megan Becker added 24 points.
With the victory Concordia moves to 5-1 overall on the 2008 campaign and gained some much needed momentum to take into Great Plains Athletic Conference play beginning next Tuesday, Nov. 25, at Hastings College. The loss drops the Lopers to 1-1 overall.
See also: Photos of the game by Rick Turner for KearneyHub.com / "UNK women beat by last-second Concordia shot " by Buck Mahoney, sports editor the Kearney Hub