(Ann Arbor, MI) – Concordia women's basketball is preparing to embark on the 2022-23 season. The Cardinals will look to improve on a solid year where they earned the #4 seed in the WHAC and downed Lawrence Tech in a home playoff game. CUAA will kick off the new year this Saturday when they host Indiana-Kokomo at 5pm. The Cardinals return 13 players from last year's squad while adding 10 newcomers. Concordia legend Elyse Schlump will enter her 1st year as head coach.
2021-22 Season Review
The Cardinals finished 19-12 overall and 14-6 in the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) last year. The team ground out a 43-42 win over rival Siena Heights early in the year and went on a 6-game winning streak later in the season. Concordia earned the #4 seed in the WHAC tournament, defeating Lawrence Tech 60-49 before their home fans. CUAA then traveled to Indiana Tech and fell in the semifinals.
2022-23 Season Outlook
The Cardinals will begin the season with their home opener on October 29 against Indiana-Kokomo at 5 pm.
In November, Concordia will travel to Marian and then compete in the Indiana East tournament November 4-5. WHAC conference play begins November 9 with a home match against Lourdes. After traveling to Rochester, the team will host UNOH on November 16. The Cardinals play then road contests at UM-Dearborn and Cornerstone before Thanksgiving break. The month concludes with a home match versus Lawrence Tech.
December opens with a home game against Madonna followed by a road tilt at Aquinas. The team will play non-conference matchups against Life and Ave Maria before resting up for Christmas break.
The Cardinals open the new calendar year by hosting Aquinas on January 4. After road contests at Indiana Tech and rival Siena Heights, the team comes back home to play Rochester. Concordia will travel to UNOH, host UM-Dearborn, and go on the road at Lawrence Tech. The team will then compete in the Concordia Invitational Tournament (CIT) at Concordia-Nebraska from January 27-28. This will be the 70th edition of CIT and the first time the event has been held since the 2019-20 season.
February starts with a road match at Lourdes. The Cardinals will then come home to host Indiana Tech and Cornerstone. The regular season concludes with two rivalry matches - a road tilt at Madonna and a home contest versus Siena Heights.
Concordia Personnel
Senior Samantha Dorn had a well-balanced game with 8.3 PPG, 3.8 RPG, and 1.7 APG last year. Senior Keirslynn Lawless attacked the rim well with 5.8 PPG and 4.9 RPG. Senior Zaria Mitchner had a solid all-around game with 5.5 PPG, 2.8 RPG, and 1.6 STL/G.
Senior Asaria Turman was a strong inside presence last year, notching 7.7 PPG and 3.7 RPG last year. Senior Mackenzie Howe was also powerful in the paint with 4.6 PPG and 2.4 RPG. Senior Monae Palmer scored 4.3 PPG in 3 contests.
Junior Taylor Leatherman leads all returners with 8.8 PPG and 5.2 RPG last season. Junior Izzy Viau notched 3.2 PPG and 3.0 RPG. Junior McKenzie Maciejewski recorded 1.7 PPG last year.
Sophomore Julia Hirt contributed on offense with 6.6 PPG and 3.4 RPG. Sophomore Ellie Kallner had 2.9 PPG and 2.2 RPG. Grace Sandlin recorded 2.2 PPG last season. Sophomore Emily McCalla had 1.7 PPG last year.
The Cardinals have added 10 newcomers this year: junior transfer Angelina Haisha, and freshmen Abby Ordonez, Braylynn Haines, Carina Cedeno, Chloe Bisballe, Emily Dingman, Izzy Hadley, Jess Andrew, Kendall Harmon, and Madie Troszak.
Head coach Elyse Schlump is joined by assistant coaches Eric Salsbury and Lauren Malinkowski along with graduate assistant Kris Wallace.
WHAC Preview
The preseason WHAC poll came out earlier this month and saw the Cardinals predicted with a sixth-place finish with a total of 56 points. Indiana Tech finished last season with a 19-1 WHAC record and earned themselves the top spot in the preseason poll once again gaining eight first-place votes and 118 total points. In second place Rochester was given 111 points with three first-place votes to their name. Rounding out the top five were Siena Heights (101 points), Lawrence Tech (85), and Aquinas (71).
Following CUAA were Lourdes (50), Madonna (43), Cornerstone (42), UM-Dearborn (36), and UNOH (13).
2021-22 Team Stats
