Courtesy of Midland Athletics
SEWARD, Neb – Midland University traveled to take on Concordia University on Wednesday night as they opened up conference play. Turnovers doomed the Warriors on the road as they fell to the Bulldogs in a Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) game by a score of 84-59. Midland drops to 2-3 on the season, 0-1 in the GPAC, while Concordia advances to 3-1 overall and 1-1 in the conference.
The Warriors struggled to find their rhythm in the first quarter as the Bulldogs quickly took the lead thanks in part to eight first-quarter turnovers. Despite the limited possessions, Midland hung tough and after three-pointers from Kennedy Darner and Lexi Kraft, they found themselves down just two, 9-7, with 4:39 to go in the quarter. Concordia was able to get expand their lead to as many as seven before taking a 19-14 lead after the first period.
In the second quarter, the Bulldogs used a 9-0 run to move their lead into double-digits, 34-19. The Warriors responded with a 7-0 run of their own before a last-second lay-up put the halftime margin at ten, 36-26, in favor of the home team.
After intermission, the Warriors were eager to chip away at the Bulldogs’ lead, but every basket they made was matched. Emma Shepard scored 10 of her 12 points in the quarter by attacking the defense and getting to the free-throw line. She made 6-of-8 from the stripe, including a pair of and-one opportunities. Despite the effort, the Bulldogs’ lead continued to grow as they outscored the Warriors 29-21 and took an 18-point into the final ten minutes.
Both offenses slowed in the final frame as each coach played their bench almost entirely. The Warriors’ scored 12 points in the period with Erin Foxhall leading the way with 4. The Bulldogs put up 19 points and picked up the conference victory, 84-59.
Emma Shepard led the team in scoring off the bench with 12 points on 2-for-3 shooting from the field and 8-for-12 from the charity stripe. Darner joined her in double figures with 11 off of 4-for-5 shooting, including 3-for-4 from behind the arc.
As a team, Midland shot 17-for-40 (42.5%) for the game and had 13 second-chance points. The Warriors’ bench had 36 points, outscoring Concordia’s subs who had 28. Midland also outrebounded Concordia, 37 to 26.
The deciding factor of the game was the 24 turnovers committed by the Warriors. That led to extra possessions for the Bulldogs who put up 24 more shots on despite being outrebounded by 11 (37-26).
Midland (2-3, 0-1 GPAC) will play their first home game of the season this Saturday when they host Jamestown (4-1, 2-0 GPAC). The game time has been shifted to a 6:00 p.m. start inside Wikert Event Center to accommodate the NAIA Volleyball Opening Round. Midland is 5-3 against Jamestown since they joined the conference, including a 64-50 win in their home opener, 64-50.
