SEWARD, Neb. – By week’s end, the third-ranked Concordia University women’s basketball team hopes to have closed out an outright GPAC regular-season title. That achievement will have to be done on the road. The Bulldogs will finish the regular season with games at Midland on Wednesday and Jamestown on Saturday. Head coach Drew Olson’s squad is 7-1 in GPAC road games this season.
This Week
Wednesday, Feb. 19 at Midland (11-17, 7-13 GPAC), 6 p.m.
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Saturday, Feb. 22 at Jamestown (16-12, 9-11 GPAC), 2 p.m.
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This time last week, Concordia (26-2, 19-1 GPAC) sat a full game behind Hastings at the top of the league standings. The roles have reversed after the Bulldogs went 2-0 and the Broncos went 0-2 last week. In a defensive battle played in front of a near capacity crowd inside Walz Arena, Concordia held off Hastings, 53-46, on Feb. 12. Grace Barry and Philly Lammers combined for 36 points in supplying the bulk of the offense in the victory. Meanwhile, the Broncos struggled to the tune of 21.3 percent shooting against the Bulldog zone defense. Concordia has won nine of the past 10 meetings with Hastings.
The Bulldogs are guaranteed to host at least one more game (GPAC quarterfinals), but the 2019-20 home regular-season finale took place this past Saturday when the program recognized nine seniors. That class has been instrumental in 131 victories and six GPAC championships (three regular season, three postseason) since the start of the 2016-17 campaign. In the GPAC era (2000-present), Concordia has claimed six GPAC regular-season championships and six GPAC tournament titles. No other GPAC women’s basketball program has repeated back-to-back sweeps of GPAC regular season/postseason titles. The Bulldogs are now looking for conference sweeps for a fourth-consecutive year.
In other statistical notes regarding the seniors, Barry and Lammers are both nearing career milestones. Barry needs 14 more points for 1,000 in her collegiate career (which included 172 points at the University of Nebraska-Kearney). Meanwhile, Lammers is seven rebounds shy of becoming just the third play in program history with 1,000 career rebounds. Lammers is also creeping towards 2,000 points (currently at 1,935). Another senior in MacKenzie Helman has had a red hot 2020. Since New Year’s Day, Helman has made 30-of-61 attempts from 3-point range. Her 17 points versus Mount Marty equaled a career high.
Midland is a team that is more dangerous than its record would indicate. The Warriors just finished a stretch of four-straight road games during which they defeated No. 7 Morningside, Briar Cliff and Doane. The three-game win streak was snapped over the weekend by Northwestern. Head coach Shawn Gilbert’s squad has had the same five starters for each of its 28 games. That group features leading scorer in senior guard Amanda Hansen (13.5 ppg). Hansen was limited to 2-for-12 shooting from the floor in the 93-70 loss at Concordia back on Nov. 12.
As a team receiving votes nationally, Jamestown still has a shot at a national tournament berth. The Jimmies will be at Briar Cliff on Wednesday before hosting the Bulldogs on Saturday. Concordia alum Thad Sankey’s squad has dropped three in a row – all to quality foes (No. 2 Hastings, Northwestern and No. 7 Morningside). Jamestown suffered its most lopsided loss in Seward, 105-56, on Jan. 11. Jamestown has a balanced team that has eight players averaging between 5.0 and 10.0 points. It ranks 15th nationally with an average of 12.4 steals per game.
The GPAC tournament will get started next week. The dates for the conference playoffs are Feb. 26 for the quarterfinals, Feb. 29 for the semifinals and March 3 for the championship.
Projected Lineups
Concordia (26-2, 19-1 GPAC)
G – Grace Barry, Sr., 5-7 (13.5)
G – Riley Sibbel, Sr., 5-9 (6.1)
G – Mackenzie Koepke, So., 6-1 (8.0)
F – Colby Duvel, Sr., 5-9 (7.5)
F – Philly Lammers, Sr., 5-11 (13.4)
Midland (11-17, 7-13 GPAC)
G – Lexi Kraft, Fr., 5-4 (5.2)
G – Amanda Hansen, Sr., 5-7 (13.5)
G – Maddie Meadows, Sr., 5-11 (5.9)
F – Makenna Sullivan, Jr., 5-11 (5.9)
F – Katy Gathje, Jr., 6-0 (7.0)
Jamestown (9-6, 4-5 GPAC)
G – Paige Schmidt, Sr., 5-7 (5.4)
F – Emma Stoehr, Jr., 5-8 (5.3)
F – Noelle Josephson, So., 5-9 (7.0)
F – Hannah DeMers, Fr., 5-11 (9.9)
F – Olivia Anderson, Sr., 6-1 (7.3)