SEWARD, Neb. – The No. 6 Dakota Wesleyan University women's basketball had no answer for the strong outside shooting of No. 9 Concordia University in a Great Plains Athletic Conference matchup Saturday in Seward, Neb.
The Tigers watched the Bulldogs go on a run to start the second quarter after a tightly contested opening frame. Concordia doubled up DWU 22-11 in the second and thwarted all Tiger attempts at a comeback the rest of the way. The 81-69 loss is the third straight for DWU in GPAC play dropping the Tigers to 15-4 overall and 8-4 in the conference.
DWU trailed by 16 early in the second half as Concordia hit 3-pointer after 3-pointer, but the Tigers closed to within single digits on numerous occasions. Each time DWU looked to be getting back in the game, Concordia hit a big shot or came away with a steal. The dagger came on a 3-pointer from Concordia's Sydney Feller that banked in with just over three-minutes to play and the shot clock set to expire after DWU cut the deficit to 10.
Sophomore Ashley Bray (Anoka, Minn.) scored a game-high 22 points on 7-of-10 shooting, while adding four rebounds. The Tigers were held in the game in the first quarter by junior forward Kristin Sabers (Mitchell, S.D.) who came off the bench to hit three 3-pointers on three straight trips early on. Sabers finished with 16 points and four 3-pointers in the loss.
Junior Erica Herrold (Dimock, S.D.) nearly collected a double-double with 15 points and eight rebounds for DWU, which shot 23-of-63 from the field, 6-of-23 from deep and 17-of-22 from the line. The Tigers were outrebounded 42-36 and gave up 17 turnovers to 13 assists.
Concordia had five players finish with at least 10 points, led by Quinn Wragge with 16 points, while Feller added 14 and four 3-pointers. The Bulldogs shot 28-of-63 from the field, 11-of-28 from behind the 3-point line and 14-of-21 from the charity stripe.
After spending much of the season at the top of the GPAC standings, three straight losses have dropped the Tigers to fourth place, three games back of first. DWU looks to get back on the winning track and avenge a loss earlier this season against No. 15 Briar Cliff University at 6 p.m. Wednesday at the Corn Palace in Mitchell, S.D.