SEWARD, Neb. – Rolling into December post-Thanksgiving, the Bulldogs will put their unbeaten record on the line versus Doane and Dakota Wesleyan. The bench in blue and white trumped Mount Marty in last week’s lone battle at Cimpl Arena, 66-59. Concordia University, Nebraska Women’s Basketball has reached an 8-0 record and 4-0 in GPAC competition.
This Week
Wednesday, Dec. 3 vs. Doane (2-5, 0-3 GPAC), 6 p.m.
--Max Country | Live Webcast | Live Stats | Location: Friedrich Arena (Seward, Neb.)
Saturday, Dec. 6 vs. Dakota Wesleyan (5-2, 3-1 GPAC), 2 p.m.
--Live Webcast | Live Stats | Location: Friedrich Arena (Seward, Neb.)
By the numbers
· The home Lancers scratched and clawed to show an improved team from a season ago, but Vieselmeyer’s 16-point third quarter provided enough cushion to steal a road win on the scorecard. The 23-tally performance by the native of Holyoke, Colo., led all players, adding six rebounds and two steals in the showing. The Concordia offense had a Jekyll and Hyde contest shooting 55.2 percent (21-for-38) in the first and third quarter and 23.0 percent (6-for-26) in the second and fourth. Forcing 28 turnovers, Sammy Leu and Ayla Roth led in steals (three apiece) and Bunting dropped 14 points throughout the contest. Leu had five points, four assists, three rebounds and steals with marks in almost every category.
· Junior guards Sammy Leu and Bree Bunting have shown to have made major strides over the offseason. In Leu’s first two seasons, she averaged less than six points a game but has shelled out 10.4 through the first eight games of her third campaign. The Wahoo High alum has averaged 3.0 rebounds, 3.0 steals and 2.5 assists. Bunting, out of Kersey, Colo., has improved every year, scoring 2.2 as a freshman, 4.0 as a sophomore and 10.9 thus far as a junior. The 5-9 guard Bunting has dropped 51.5 percent from the field.
· The stout defense is second in the NAIA averaging 20.0 steals and 32.3 forced turnovers a contest, which ranks 3rd in the NAIA stats sheets. If teams are preparing to shoot, the Dawgs have made teams unable to rise clean, blocking 4.0 per contest and are just outside the top-25 (26th). Concordia has seldom given up defensive boards to opponents with 24.0 averaged (third in GPAC). Kelty (5.7), Vieselmeyer (4.6) and Robbins (4.3) pace the team in rebounds. Three Bulldogs have totaled two-plus swipes a contest, including Leu (3.0), Roth (2.0), Kelty (1.9) and Gabrielle Wagner (1.9).
· Vieselmeyer is the scoring leader for the Bulldogs averaging 14.8 points per game. The efficient senior forward makes a high 61.3 field goal percentage, 52.6 percent from three-point range and 90.9 percent from the charity stripe. Averaging 4.6 boards, Vieselmeyer has pulled down 37 total. Coming off her highest point performance on the year, No. 44 has hit double figures seven out of the eight games.
· The Concordia attack still has a skyscraping 95.4 points a game (5th in NAIA) and shoots 33.0 percent from long range. The Bulldogs are No. 1 in field goals made per game (36.9). The Seward side posts 21.4 assists per game (5th in NAIA). The top dealers are Roth (3.1), Leu (2.5), Gabrielle Wagner (2.4), Libby Hoffman (2.0), Vieselmeyer (1.6), Kelty (1.6) Juliana Jones (1.6) and Savannah Butterfield (1.6).
· The countdown for Head Coach Drew Olson begins as the head coach has 492 career wins – already the most in Concordia Athletics history. In his 20th season, Olson six 30+ win seasons and fifteen 20+ wins in a campaign. During his tenure, Olson has directed his teams to a combined 12 GPAC titles (tournament and regular season), 16 national tournament trips and five national semifinal appearances. The 2019-20 (32-2), 2018-19 (35-3), 2017-18 (36-2), 2014-15 (35-3), 2016-17 (34-3) and 2011-12 (34-3) squads each eclipsed the 30-win mark.
· Surging into the top-10 in the newest ranking, Concordia finds itself at No. 9 in the NAIA coaches’ poll from the newest release. Jumping from No. 11 to two spots up, the Bulldogs are behind GPAC foes No.1 Dordt and No. 8 Briar Cliff. No. 14 Dakota Wesleyan moves above two teams in the ratings as well. Hastings and Northwestern are receiving votes in the article from Wednesday (Nov. 26).
Probable Lineup
G – Bree Bunting, 5-9 (10.9)
G – Ayla Roth, 5-9 (9.4)
G – Sammy Leu, 5-10 (10.4)
F – Raelyn Kelty, 5-11 (6.4)
F – Kristin Vieselmeyer, 6-2 (14.8)
The opponents
The Tigers of Nebraska are on a five-game losing streak after starting the season 2-0. Doane has a winless 0-3 record in conference play and has wins over Peru State College (66-63) and Clarke University (Iowa), 71-58. Scoring 67.9 points a game, the Tigers rely on 40.0 percent shooting from the floor and a 26.6 clip from three. Megan Chambers posts a team-high 16.7 points and 8.6 rebounds per game. Rylie Rice tallies 14.7 and Emma Vander Plaats, 13.3, as the bucket-getters behind Chambers. Doane allows 76.3 points per game and has a -4.0 rebounding margin off the glass.
Doane Probable Lineup
G – Mattea Kassebaum, 5-8 (12.6)
G – Rylie Rice, 5-9 (14.7)
G – Keeleigh Knobbe, 5-11 (7.6)
F – Ella Johnson, 6-0 (4.3)
F – Megan Chambers, 6-0 (16.7)
The Tigers out of South Dakota are on a three game having defeated Morningside (94-53), Midland (93-45) and Briar Cliff (79-70). Dakota Wesleyan has a 5-2 overall record and 3-1 in the GPAC, having lost to No. 12 MidAmerica Nazarene University (62-39) in the Cattle Classic. The Tigers will face No. 4 Dakota State University on Tuesday in the Battle of the Blues. DWU has a handle on the boards with 44.7 per game (second in the GPAC) and has the highest amount of assists with 21.7. With 77.7 points on the scoreboard, the Tigers shoot 43.2 percent from the field and 29.8 percent from three. All-GPAC Emma Yost has 16.9 points per game and 5.0 rebounds. Three others are in double figures with Rylee Rosenquist (12.6), Shalayne Nagel (12.4) and Avery Broughton (11.0). Jaida Young has a team-high 5.4 assists per game and Broughton 7.4 rebounds.
Dakota Wesleyan Probable Lineup
G – Shalayne Nagel, 6-1 (12.4)
G – Jaida Young, 5-8 (5.0)
G – Rylee Rosenquist, 5-7 (12.6)
G – Avery Broughton, 6-1 (11.0)
F – Emma Yost, 6-0 (16.9)
Next week
The Bulldogs will travel to Midland on Dec. 10 and No. 1 Dordt on Dec. 13. Concordia will be at Wikert Event Center on Wednesday and inside DeWitt Gymnasium.