SEWARD, Neb. – Down one to Northwestern in the final minute, the Bulldogs made clutch back-to-back possessions via Raelyn Kelty and Bree Bunting to knock off the visitors, 69-67, to start 2026 on Saturday (Jan. 3). Concordia University, Nebraska Women’s Basketball picked out 20 turnovers and relied on late defensive stops and rebounds to close out the contest.
Head Coach Drew Olson and the Dawgs move to 12-3 overall and 7-2 in GPAC play.
“It was a great game for us,” Coach Olson said. “It's always nice when you win by 25 or 30, but you need some of these games where you have to execute at the end. We made it way more interesting than it should have been. In the fourth quarter, offensively, we were a mess. When it came down to it, we came up with some big plays. They (Northwestern) did a great job. Holy buckets, we will take the win.”
Up 64-50 in the fourth quarter, the Bulldogs gave up a 15-0 run to the Red Raiders, who edged in front by a point. Kelty would receive an inbound pass on the block from Ayla Roth and put in the contested layup. After a Concordia timeout, Kristin Vieselmeyer found a wide-open Bunting for an easy lay-in to put the game away.
To build up the original advantage, the Dawgs went on an 11-3 run starting in the third quarter powered by scoring leaders, Roth (14) and Vieselmeyer (13), two buckets apiece. Northwestern was down double figures multiple times but continued to claw back into the game shooting 43.3 percent from the floor to the Bulldogs’ 39.7.
Roth, a Milford High alum, did the majority of her damage in the first half, scoring 12 while spurring Concorida to a nine-point lead at the break. The freshman had five assists on the night and a big one to Kelty late.
“Just coming together and playing as a team,” Roth commented. “In those situations, sometimes it can get really hectic and I think we did a great job staying focused and finishing our tasks. We work on inbound plays probably three times a week, just making sure we remember the plays and seeing people at the right time for plays like that.”
Bunting rounded out the Bulldogs reaching double-digits (11) and Vieselmeyer was one rebound shy of a double-double. Makynna Robbins and Kelty had nine points each with the sophomore out of Houston, Texas, having seven boards.
Margo Schuiteman was the Red Raiders’ one woman show with 29 points, 10 rebounds, three assists and two blocks. Missed free throws plagued NWC as the team made 42.1 (8-for-19) percent from the foul line. Northwestern (8-7, 4-5 GPAC) will host Mount Marty in its next bout.
Concordia (12-3, 7-2 GPAC) will be in Sioux City, Iowa, to take on Morningside (10-5, 5-4 GPAC) on Wednesday. The Dawgs will take the court against the Mustangs for the first time this season with tipoff at 6 p.m. CT.