2022-23 Concordia Women’s Basketball Schedule
SEWARD, Neb. – Eleven-straight national tournament appearances (14 in the past 15 years) will lead the Concordia University Women’s Basketball program into a new season. As announced on Wednesday (June 29), the Bulldogs have unveiled their 28-game regular season schedule for the 2022-23 campaign. It will officially get started at home at the 23rd annual Cattle Classic. The ’22-23 journey will feature 22 league contests, six nonconference games, a total of 15 home clashes and the return of the Concordia Invitational Tournament, hosted by CUNE.
Head Coach Drew Olson (423-121 all-time record) is prepping for his 17th season leading the program. The 2021-22 squad qualified for the national tournament and finished at 16-14 overall while going up against the most challenging schedule in the NAIA. The Bulldogs will bring back All-GPAC honorees Taysha Rushton (first team), Sadie Powell (honorable mention) and Mackenzie Toomey (honorable mention). Rushton was also recognized as an NAIA Honorable Mention All-American.
The Cattle Classic (Nov. 4-5) will get the new season tipped off inside Friedrich Arena. Opponents on the docket are Bellevue University and familiar nonconference foe Dakota State University (S.D.), also a 2022 national qualifier. The next non-league action will come just before New Year’s Day with action at Texas Wesleyan University on Dec. 28 and at the University of Science & Arts of Oklahoma on Dec. 30. Texas Wesleyan and Science & Arts were also national tournament teams last season.
After two years without CIT, the grand event will be staged in Seward in January 2023. On day one (Jan. 27), CUNE will go head-to-head with Concordia Wisconsin, which went 13-9 overall last season. The most recent CIT (in 2020) saw the Bulldogs cruise past Concordia Ann Arbor, 74-49, and Concordia Wisconsin, 102-47, on the way to the program’s 30th all-time CIT championship.
Conference play is set to open on Nov. 12 with a road trip to Briar Cliff. Just like the ’21-22 season, the Bulldogs will again end the regular season at the Corn Palace, home to Dakota Wesleyan. During Olson’s tenure, Concordia has won six GPAC regular season titles and six GPAC tournament crowns.
Dates for the GPAC tournament are Feb. 22 for the quarterfinals, Feb. 25 for the semifinals and Feb. 28 for the championship game. The opening round of the 2023 NAIA Women’s Basketball National Championship tournament will take place March 7-8 with action at the final site (remaining 16 teams) at the Tyson Events Center in Sioux City, Iowa, to run March 13-18.
The junior varsity women’s basketball schedule is yet to be announced. The JV slate will be included with the link above when made public.