CU-Ann Arbor takes CIT title in battle of top-10 teams
Friday’s women’s CIT results Saturday’s women’s CIT results All-Tournament |
By Taylor Mueller, Sports Information Assistant
SEWARD, Neb. – The Concordia women’s basketball team suffered a tough-to-swallow defeat in the Concordia Invitational Tournament championship Saturday as it fell to the 10th-ranked Concordia-Ann Arbor Cardinals, 73-69. With a packed Walz crowd ready to erupt, CUAA star guard Abbey Hengesbach shut the door on any possible late Bulldog heroics with her bucket in the paint in the final seconds.
“Concordia Ann Arbor did a great job,” Bulldog head coach Drew Olson said. “No. 11 (Hengesbach) is a stud and their post player (Hannah Sabol) has similar ability. They were tough to stop. Defensively we didn’t get as many stops as we needed to. We’ve got to have more players step up and make some shots.”
The atmosphere on day two was even more intense than the first as more than 1,000 fans packed the stands to watch the Bulldogs battle. CUNE students, dressed in blue, stood in the stairways as the seats disappeared, only to see Ann-Arbor take home its second CIT tournament title all-time and second in three years.
The Cardinals (20-4) came out gunning from the beginning and quickly took a seemingly commanding 20-8 advantage. The Bulldogs countered with a tremendous 21-8 run, to take the lead late in the first half. The Bulldogs shot 39 percent in the first half, and found themselves up 39-37 at the half. The tide seemed to turn when sophomore Bailey Morris drilled back-to-back 3-pointers to cut the 12-point deficit down to just six.
“We started off pretty slow, but I’m really proud of our team. We really fought,” Olson said. “And then we started to play Concordia basketball.”
Both teams struggled to gain solid momentum in the second half as each team traded buckets with neither team leading by more than seven. CUNE (20-3) shot only 35 percent in the second half compared to Ann-Arbor’s 46 percent. On top of that, the Bulldogs were an ice-cold 0-for-10 from the 3-point line over the final 20 minutes.
Ann-Arbor began to pull away late in the game, until a steal and a layup by junior Kristen Conahan brought the Cardinal lead down to two points. Ann-Arbor answered on the next possession and nailed two free throws and a two-point bucket in the final minutes to sink the Bulldogs.
Senior Katie Rich led the way with 18 points and eight rebounds. Conahan, a member of the all-tournament team, added 17 points while Morris chipped in with 10 points. Sophomore Tracy Peitz and junior Lori Laboda snatched six rebounds apiece.
While the night didn’t end the way Bulldog fans had hoped or anticipated, Olson was appreciative of the enthusiasm that filled Walz Arena.
“It was a great time. This was awesome,” Olson said. “I’m hoping that every time we play at home, that it can be this crazy. There’s no other GPAC school has this kind of crowd, this kind of atmosphere. It’s a really credit to our students and their pride in our school.”
Sabol was named the tournament MVP after getting double-doubles in both games. She 16 points and hauled in 17 points in Saturday’s affair. Hengesbach had a game high 22 points while chipping in 10 rebounds and three assists.
Concordia will take on Nebraska Wesleyan on Tuesday Walz Arena. Tipoff is at 7:30 p.m. The Bulldogs took down the Prairie Wolves by a 91-61 score in their first meeting this season in Lincoln, Neb.
