Junior Whitney Stichka scored 25 points to lead the Concordia University, Nebraska women's basketball team to a 76-70 victory over the third-ranked Hastings College Broncos in the season opening GPAC game for both squads on Wednesday night in Seward, Neb. It marks the first win for the Bulldogs (6-0, 1-0 GPAC) over the Broncos since Feb. 9, 2005. Hastings (4-2, 0-1 GPAC) falls for the second time this season. Their first loss was to Dakota State.
The GPAC opener featured five lead changes and 10 ties and an uncharacteristic 27 turnovers by each team.
During the first half the Bulldogs opened up a five-point advantage on a pair of free throws by sophomore Amber Quinn. Hastings battled back to take a four-point lead of their own on a three-pointer by Kay Broekemeier with 2:20 left in the first half.
Concordia countered with a triple by junior Melissa Tinkham to cut the lead to one. After a bucket by the Broncos, Stichka finished the half with four straight points, including a driving layup with three seconds on the clock to give the Bulldogs a 36-35 lead at intermission.
Hastings opened the second half with a three by Haruka Yamashita to take the lead. The teams were tied five times during the first eight minutes of play in the second half. A Heather McKeon jumper gave the Broncos a 47-43 lead. Again Concordia answered with a three by Tinkham.
Another three, this time by Stichka, broke a 51-51 tie and gave the Bulldogs the lead for good with 11:17 remaining. Concordia opened up a nine-point lead with 2:10 remaining on a free throw by Stichka.
Hastings made a final push, cutting the Bulldog lead to three on a pair of occasions, but Concordia made 5-of-6 from the charity stripe down the stretch. Two of those free throws came from Libby Hirssig, who went 7-of-8 from the stripe for the game and also pulled down seven rebounds.
As a team the Bulldogs held the advantage on the boards, 41-35, and held the Broncos to just 22.2 percent shooting from beyond the arc.
Stichka paced Concordia with 25 points on 8-of-13 shooting from the field. She also had eight points from the charity stripe and dished out six assists. Tinkham added 14 points, including three three-point field goals. Senior Jenni Lovgrove also reached double digits, scoring 12 points. Danae Koopman shot 75 percent from the field to finish with seven points.
Lindsay Ducey led the Broncos with 21 points and seven rebounds. Kay Broekemeier just missed a double-double, grabbing nine rebounds to go with 12 points. Rachel Isherwood chipped in with 11 points while Yamashita finished with nine points all from beyond the arc.
Concordia is back in action on Nov. 27 as they take on the Doane College Tigers in a 7:30 p.m. contest in Seward.
