The Concordia University women's basketball team suffered a 68-58 defeat on Thursday at the hands of the Mt. Marty College Lancers, earning an early exit in the 2008 Great Plains Athletic Conference post-season tournament.
The Bulldogs (24-6, 13-5 GPAC) must wait to find out if they will be chosen for an at-large berth into the NAIA DII national tournament held March 12-18 at the Tyson Center in Sioux City, Iowa.
The Lancers (19-10, 11-7 GPAC), on the other hand, have now won 11 straight and carry a lot of momentum into Saturday's semi-final match-up with the top seeded Morningside College Mustangs. The Lancers, like Concordia, also still have an outside shot at an at-large bid to the national tournament even if they don't win the GPAC tournament.
Before an estimated 850 fans, the two teams came out of the gate playing inspired defense and forgettable offense. Neither team could find an offensive rhythm, but the Bulldogs carried a 27-23 halftime lead. The two teams shot an identical 8-for-27 from the field in the first frame. The Bulldogs managed to go 3-for-12 beyond the arc in the first half while the Lancers were 0-for-6.
Both teams started the second half with hot shooting, matching buckets for the first minutes of the second half. Neither team could find a way to pull away until 11:18 when Mt. Marty started scorching the basket with successive three-pointers. Katelynn Kunz hit from deep to extend the Lancer lead to five and then, following a Bulldog turnover, Lacey Powell struck from deep to put the lancers in front by eight. Concordia couldn't answer offensively. Mt. Marty would push its lead to as many as 15 before the final buzzer.
The Bulldogs were led offensively by junior forward Danae Koopman with 15 points on 6-for-10 shooting from field along with going 3-for-5 from three point land. The Bulldogs added three other players in double digits: Whitney Stichka (11), Melissa Tinkham (10), and Jenni Lovegrove (10). Lovegrove also led the Bulldogs on the glass pulling down seven rebounds.
Mt. Marty's leading scorer was Michelle Amundson with 19 points, helped by a 7-for-10 night from the field along with going 3-for-3 from three point land. Amber Marsden added 11 points off the bench for the Lancers.
Complete Box Score
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