Lady Jays upend Concordia
Tabor women prove first beating of Bulldogs was no fluke with 67-58 win
By RYAN RICHTER
Sports writer
Don't write checks your play cannot cash.
Coming off a 78-65 loss Friday night in Hillsboro to the 18th-ranked Sioux Falls Lady Cougars, the Lady Bluejays needed motivation to prepare for Saturday's familiar opponent.
Check.
The ninth-ranked Concordia Lady Bulldogs reportedly were spouting off that Nov. 28's loss to the Bluejays was a fluke.
Who would have expected the unranked Bluejays to roll into Concordia's Cattle Classic and ambush then third-ranked Bulldogs 73-64 in overtime?
Much to the chagrin of the Bulldogs, Tabor proved it was no fluke.
Like she did the first meeting, Erica Hemmert rose to the occasion, scoring a team-high 17 points to lead Tabor past Concordia, 67-58.
"We had a lot of confidence tonight," Hemmert said contrasting the difference between the meetings with the Bulldogs. "We did the first time, too, but we knew we could win and we were really ready for one after four straight losses that we've had.
"We played a complete game, we didn't have any letdowns tonight so that helps a lot. We really wanted to prove that (first win) it wasn't and we did tonight. We beat them pretty sound."
After Angela Kroeker scored the first of her 10 points, Concordia sprinted to a 7-1 lead in the game's first 2:04.
At the first meeting with Concordia the Bluejays were coming off an embarrassing loss at Baldwin City.
Prior to Saturday, Tabor had lost four straight, all of which coach Rusty Allen blamed on his team's inability to go the full 40 minutes.
"Last time we played them, their inside presence was what we were concerned the most about," Allen said of the Bulldogs game. "Sarah (Harrison) got sick last night, so their outside presence was what we had to put the most focus on.
"As the game wore on, they established more of an inside presence and they used their wing players to do it."
Harrison stung the Bluejays for 23 points the first meeting, but Keyna Kobza and Kari Saving had to pick up the slack this time.
Five straight points from Angela and sister Shannon Kroeker, who also finished with 10 points, and the Bluejays were within 7-6 just over five minutes in.
Jessica Vineyard joined the balanced scoring attack for Tabor with another 10 points from five-for-six from the field.
The Bluejays pulled to within one two more times before Hemmert scored four straight baskets during a 7-0 run, including her only three, that put Tabor ahead for good.
In a half where scoring seemed difficult for both teams, it was the Bluejays that hit 48 percent from the floor on their way to a 30-25 half-time lead.
Concordia suffered the real shooting lapse, hitting just 38 percent of its shots for 43 percent on the game.
In the second half, the Bulldogs came surging back to tie the game at 39 with 12:18 left.
The stubborn Bluejays kept the Bulldogs from ever getting over the hill despite surrendering 48 percent shooting the second half.
"We were a lot more stubborn at this point in the season," Allen said. "Stubborn in the way we fought, boxed out on the boards, fought for rebounds and stepped in front of people and didn't let them get where they wanted to go.
"We can play considerably better than we played tonight, considerably better. We were tough the whole game, but as far as being sharp and playing well, we were fatigued."
Along with being sore from a dislocated finger, one fatigued Bluejay was Trixsi Odom.
Finishing with nine points, Odom's seven-for-eight at the foul line including six in the game's closing :50 made it a three-possession game for Concordia with :20 left.
Tabor hit 11-for-14 at the line the second half and 67 percent for the game.
Despite Donya Anderson pulling down a team-high seven rebounds, the Bulldogs outdid Tabor 37-32 with Concordia getting four more offensive rebounds than Tabor's 11.
The 7-7 Bluejays open KCAC play today at 6 p.m. at home against McPherson.
Tabor travels to ranked Ottawa for a 5 p.m. meeting Saturday with the Lady Braves.
