SEWARD, Neb. – Behind 11 first half treys, the stifling Bulldogs trampled rival Doane before the break with 28 points off turnovers to double the visitors, 56-23, in the opening quarters on Wednesday (Dec. 3). Concordia University, Nebraska Women’s Basketball finished with a 30-point win (89-59) with 12 different Bulldogs finding a bucket.
Head Coach Drew Olson and company remain in the win column with a 9-0 unbeaten overall record and 5-0 in conference play.
“I thought we played really well,” Coach Olson said. “We shot really well in the first half, but our defense was really solid throughout the whole game. It was a pretty dominant performance. We were up about 40 going into the fourth quarter, so it was good. Abbie is continuing to grow as a player. She’s a Bulldog. She fights and competes. She has been really working on her shooting, so her first catch and shoot, she hit with a lot of confidence. It was awesome to see that and build even more confidence.”
The Bulldogs hit four treys to gain an early 12-4 lead with Sammy Leu, Raelyn Kelty, Juliana Jones and Sara Harley each pouring in the bucket. Led by Bree Bunting in the second stretch, Concordia followed with another run (12-2) tossing the extra passes early to shoot an efficient 62.5 percent from the field and 11-for-17 from three in the half. Raelyn Kelty also dropped multiple buckets before getting into early foul trouble.
By halftime, the Bulldogs had a 23-point lead and would never surrender the advantage in the last two quarters.
The Concordia press dragged the Crete Tigers into deep waters and suffocated the visitors forcing 18 first-half turnovers. Lead instigator Leu made life hard for the opposing team and swiped four steals (11 points, 5 assists) in only 16 minutes of play. The stingy defensive thieves converted 41 total points off turnovers, hardly allowing Doane to make it past half court unscathed.
Said Olson, “We have a toughness about us. We want to press and cause problems for the opponents, but it's also the details of figuring out where you want to force people. Our team is doing a great job of executing.”
Abbie Kromarek didn’t miss until the 6:18 mark of the fourth quarter, scoring eight of her 15 in the last two frames. The hard-nosed player scored a new career high playing 14 minutes in the contest. Makynna Robbins continued to get to the free throw line notching 11 points, and pulled down a game high eight boards.
Doane’s Keeleigh Knobbe (16) and Rylie Rice (12) paced the visitors. The Tigers shot 42.9 percent from the floor and 21.4 percent from beyond the arc. Doane (2-6, 0-4 GPAC) will face No. 1 Dordt in its upcoming contest.
No. 9 Concordia (8-0, 4-0 GPAC) will face No. 14 Dakota Wesleyan (5-3, 3-1 GPAC) on Saturday (Dec. 6). The Bulldogs and Tigers will tip-off at 2 p.m. CT inside Friedrich Arena.