LAMONI, Iowa – An exchange of runs in a frenetic first quarter gave way to a comfortable road victory for Concordia University, Nebraska Women’s Basketball. In the Tuesday (Oct. 28) matinee in Lamoni, Iowa, the Bulldogs forced 19 first-half turnovers and eventually built a lead as large as 23 points in what amounted to an 80-59 victory over Graceland University. Senior post Kristin Vieselmeyer led all scorers with 19 points.
Head Coach Drew Olson’s squad stands at 2-0 on the young season. Three days earlier, Concordia blew out Kansas Christian College (Kan.) in its season opener.
“It was a good test for us,” Olson said. “They hit some shots and fought back. It was great for our team to have that and for us to be able to respond. I thought we did a great job defensively from the end of the first quarter on. That first quarter, we were just a little bit out of sorts. The pace was crazy, but it was a fun game. I’m happy that we got to have an opportunity like this.”
The highlights for Concordia included not only the post scoring of Vieselmeyer, but the rebounding of Raelyn Kelty, the defensive tenacity of Sammy Leu and the perimeter game of Bree Bunting. A key sequence in Tuesday’s win occurred in the middle of the second quarter with a 9-0 spurt that turned a 32-31 lead into a 41-31 advantage. Vieselmeyer began the run with a bucket in the paint and Gabrielle Wagner capped it with a layup of her own. It was 46-35 at the break.
Defensively, the Bulldogs put the clamps on Graceland in the second half with the help of their full-court press. The Yellowjackets made only 8-of-27 shots from the floor over the third and fourth quarters inside the confines of their spacious dome arena. An 8-0 Concordia run (including a trey apiece from Libby Hoffman and Vieselmeyer) to open the fourth quarter ballooned the lead to 67-45 and put the contest out of reach.
Graceland (0-1) attempted to slow down the Bulldogs with a 1-3-1 zone and a bit of extended pressure of their own. Vieselmeyer burned the Yellowjackets with 11 of her 19 points (8-for-13 shooting) coming in the second half. Kelty notched a double-double with 10 points, 15 rebounds, six steals and four assists. Other statistically notable efforts were turned in by Bunting (15 points and four rebounds) and Leu (eight points, five steals and four rebounds). Off the bench, Savi Butterfield, Sara Harley and Wagner chipped in six points apiece. Wagner added four steals to a team total of 23.
Concordia is still working on finding a groove from a shooting perspective. It went 32-for-83 (.386) overall and 8-for-35 (.229) from long distance on Tuesday. The Bulldogs took 31 more shots than Graceland thanks to margins of plus-15 in turnovers and plus-five in rebounding. Ianara Morbidoni led the Yellowjackets with 15 points and nine rebounds.
Afterwards, Olson provided Parker Cyza some early thoughts in a postgame interview, saying, “It’s been great. It’s a team that really cares about each other. They compete. It’s definitely been a different dynamic. It’s been cool to see players step into different roles. It’s been a lot of fun … Kristin was there for us when times got tough. She did a great job of calming us down. Throw the ball to her and great things were happening. Bree, you can just tell, she’s a different player this year. She worked so hard in the summer. She’s really played great basketball. Sammy was huge. She had so many deflections and created so many turnovers in the second quarter. Rae was getting every rebound. She was awesome.”
The Bulldogs will have a week and a half to prepare for two top 25 opponents that will provide a significant challenge at the 26th annual Cattle Classic (Nov. 7-8). As part of the food drive and fundraising event, Concordia will take on No. 18 Arizona Christian University and No. 13 MidAmerica Nazarene University (Kan.). For more details on the Cattle Classic, click HERE.