Concordia falls behind in third; drops game to Briar Cliff

By Chase Benton on Jan. 11, 2025 in Women's Basketball

SIOUX CITY, Iowa – The Bulldogs and Chargers clashed at Newman Flanagan Center on Saturday (Jan. 11) afternoon. Briar Cliff came out strong with a 13-0 drive in the middle of the third quarter to keep Concordia University, Nebraska Women’s Basketball at bay in a 73-56 loss for the visitors.

As the skid continues, the Bulldogs have mounted a 7-9 overall record and a 4-8 showing in conference play.

"We did a really good job in the first half of being focused on how to defend and how to attack them," said Head Coach Drew Olson. "We had players step up and hit some shots. Kendal hit a couple of threes. We just didn't have the focus in the third quarter to keep defending like we were. We lost our scouting report of who they were a couple times. They were able to hit a couple threes that stretched the lead. Against a team that is that good defensively, it was really hard to claw back into it." 

Following an Abby Heemstra jump shot to tie the game, the Chargers mounted their third frame double-digit run via three treys from Kenna Mongan (two) and Mallie McNair (one). Megan Belt and Kristin Vieselmeyer added buckets to simmer the home team’s hot stretch and trim the lead to 10 (58-48) at the end of the quarter. Vieselmeyer and Belt finished with 12 and 10, respectively.

Raelyn Kelty and Vieselmeyer dropped response buckets early in the fourth as the Kiowa, Colo., native Kelty totaled 10 for the Bulldogs. Adrianna Webster (six) and Mongan (seven) did the offensive damage in the final 10 minutes to finalize the contest.

Coach Olson said, "Kristin, I thought, was awesome the whole game. She has been really consistent. Playing really tough and very physical. Understanding how to score on different post players. When to use your advantage inside and when to be able to step out. She is capable of scoring in many ways. She's doing a good job of picking when to do both."

Kendal Brigham started off with the hot hand totaling 10 points in the opening frame and added two more points (12), seven rebounds and four steals to the scoresheet. The Wahoo High alum reached double digits for the 10th time this season. Brigham, Kelty and Vieselmeyer have each hit double figure points in their last three performances. Abby Krieser tallied seven points, five rebounds and five assists with Kelty posting five rebounds and three steals.

Concordia and Briar Cliff battled closely in various categories: steals (9-8), free throws percentage (84.6-84.6), 3-pointers made (5-6), rebounds (25-31) and points in the paint (30-34).

The Bulldogs ultimately shot 38.5 percent (20-for-52), while the Chargers nailed down 50.0 percent (28-for-56) from the field.

Briar Cliff (14-2, 8-2 GPAC) was led by Webster (21 points, eight rebounds, three blocks) and Kennedy Benne (18 points, five assists, four steals). The Chargers shot 33.3 percent (6-for-18) from three and totaled 21 points of turnovers. They will host Waldorf at home in their upcoming game.

Concordia (7-9, 4-8 GPAC) is set to take on Mount Marty (8-9, 2-9 GPAC) this Wednesday. The contest is slated to start at 6 p.m. CT inside Friedrich Arena. The Bulldogs are an undefeated 10-0 versus the Lancers in the last five years.