Seward, Neb. – The Dakota Wesleyan women's basketball team fell 59-58 to the Concordia Bulldogs with Edelman being just late on her last second shot. CUNE started their possession with 33 seconds on the clock and picked up a shot clock violation and not hitting the rim. Officials allowed the 1.7 seconds shown to be the official time. Morgan Edelman drilled a shot just after the buzzer which would have given DWU the win but resulted in a 59-58 loss for the Tigers. Dakota Wesleyan falls to 10-5 (4-5 GPAC) on the season.
Stat Leaders:
Points – Jada Campbell & Rylee Rosenquist (13)
Assists – Matti Reiner (3)
Rebounds – Rylee Rosenquist & Morgan Edelman (6)
Blocks – Rylee Rosenquist (1)
Steals –Morgan Edelman, Jada Campbell & Mya Wilson (2)
Recap –
The first quarter for the Tigers looked like a carryover from Thursday night with a struggle with the Concordia pressure and not getting shots to fall. DWU committed five turnovers in the quarter that the Bulldogs took full advantage of scoring on 4-5 turnovers. Dakota Wesleyan was held to just nine points, finding themselves in an early 17-9 hole after the first quarter. The Tigers shot a mere 11.8% from the field and went 0-6 from deep. Most of their points came from the free throw line and second chance points from crashing the offensive glass like they have all year.
The second quarter was a totally different story and looked like the top-25 team they truly are. The Tigers dominated the quarter outscoring the Bulldogs 20-9 which marked their 15th time this season holding an opponent to less than 10 points in a quarter. Defense has always been the staple of a Jason Christensen team and that has shown game in and game out this year. The young players showed up in a big way during the quarter with Morgan Edelman scoring seven points in the quarter alone (10 total in the first half). The other key contributor was freshman Rylee Rosenquist who has been giving great minutes off the bench for Christensen bringing a lot of energy and hustle, as well as a great rebounder and finisher at the rim. Right before the half Isabel Ihnen put a stamp on the quarter with one of her classic 'NBA range' three-pointers that was nothing but net for the 29-26 halftime lead for DWU.
Out of the half the Tigers started slow and sloppy with the ball turning it over three times in the first couple minutes resulting in easy baskets for the Bulldogs. Mya Wilson and Aspen Hansen would keep the score close with a deep range ball apiece. Both scored five points in the quarter alone. Concordia would gain the slight edge in the game 44-43 after winning the third quarter 18-14.
Jada Campbell stepped up in the fourth quarter when her team needed her most, scoring seven of her 14 total points in the quarter alone. The biggest shot of them all was off a Ihnen missed three-pointer, but then Isabel finding Campbell open for three and Jada sinking the shot to bring DWU within one point. With 33 seconds left on the game clock Concordia picked up a shot clock violation and did not hit the rim on the shot. The game clock showed 1.7 seconds which didn't change. Christensen and staff argued that more time should be added but officials stayed with the 1.7 seconds. Dakota Wesleyan got the inbound to Edelman who took a couple dribbles and heaved up a shot just after the buzzer that found the bottom of the net. The shot did not count and resulted in the Tigers losing 59-58.
Head-to-Head (Concordia)
- DWU is now 16-39 all-time against CUNE with today's loss.
- The last two meetings between the teams last year were both victories for the Tigers with the first being in the GPAC Quarterfinals by a score of 68-52 and the second game by a final of 71-67 on senior night.
Up Next
- Dakota Wesleyan women's basketball returns home to the Corn Palace for a matchup against Midland, January 11th 2023.