SEWARD, Neb. – The homesteading, and No. 3-seeded Concordia University Bulldogs took full advantage of turnovers on Friday night as they held off a second-half comeback from Benedictine Women's Basketball.
The Bulldogs finished with 17 points off Raven turnovers, which included 4 points off two overtime turnovers from the No. 14-seeded Ravens that allowed Concordia to jump ahead in the overtime where they earned a 67-57 win.
Concordia opened the game on a 9-0 run before Benedictine was able to score its first points of the game – a 3-pointer from Lauryn Dubbert. After a basket and free throw from Kyra Misuraca and a layup from Josie Weishaar the Ravens trimmed their deficit down to five points before the Bulldogs took a 17-8 lead into the second quarter.
Trailing by 14 after the Bulldogs extended their lead to 22-8 with 7:53 remaining in the quarter, Benedictine head coach Chad Folsom called a timeout. The Ravens answered with a run sparked by a jumper from Aaliyah Raines. Benedictine outscored the Bulldogs 15-5 over the remainder of the quarter to trail 27-23 at halftime.
Benedictine finished the second quarter with just 5 turnovers, which limited scoring opportunities for Concordia as they were only able to tack on 2 points off those turnovers in the quarter. The Ravens also limited the Bulldogs to just 3 first-half 3-pointers and just 4 total baskets as they held Concordia to 21.1 percent from the field in the second quarter.
Raines opened the second half scoring with 5 straight points for the Ravens keeping them within a possession of the Bulldogs early in the third quarter. Dubbert was fouled with 3:57 remaining in the quarter and hit 2 of 3 free throws to give Benedictine its first lead of the game at 32-31. Concordia answered to pull back ahead by 5 points before Alleigh Kramer and Weishaar scored the last four points of the quarter to send the game into the final 10 minutes of regulation locked up at 36-all.
Benedictine opened the fourth quarter with a 7-0 run that was sparked by back-to-back 3-pointers from Kennedy Nicholson that led to a Concordia timeout just over 2 minutes into the quarter.
Concordia answered out of the timeout with the first of 5 3-pointers in the quarter that kept the Ravens from pulling away. Layups from Riley Rottinghaus, Jennifer Jacobs, and Raines kept the Ravens ahead by two possessions before an 8-0 run from the Bulldogs gave Concordia a 51-49 lead with 4:20 left in regulation. Raines answered back, followed by a jumper from Kramer to give Benedictine back a 2-point lead at 53-51 with just under 2 minutes left in regulation. The fifth 3-pointer of the period pushed the Bulldogs back into the lead, 54-53, with 90 seconds remaining before a free throw from Raines tied the game at 54 with just over 1 minute remaining.
Both teams had a chance to win the game in regulation as a mid-range jumper from Misuraca rimmed out leading to a timeout and advance for the Bulldogs who also saw their shot miss short inside the final second.
Concordia took the first lead of overtime that was answered on a 3-pointer from Raines 57 seconds into the period. That would be the final points of the game for Benedictine as Concordia closed the overtime on an 8-0 run to move on to the second round of the NAIA Women's Basketball National Championship.
After holding Concordia in check from beyond the arc over the first three quarters, the Bulldogs found their range late in the game, hitting 6 of 9 in the fourth quarter and overtime.
Benedictine held a 26-2 advantage off the bench as the Bulldogs leaned heavily on their starting five, which all played 35 minutes or more in the overtime game. Benedictine also held a 14-5 advantage in second-chance points as they won the rebounding battle, 53-34, setting a new single-game high for the season. Raines finished with 15 while Dubbert added 11. Misuraca, Nicholson, and Kramer all added 6 as the Ravens finished their season with an overall record of 20-12.
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