(Rio Grande, OH) The Concordia Women's Basketball program finished out their time at the Rio Grande Classic facing the hosting Red Storm on Saturday afternoon. The Red Storm won the River States Conference last regular season and were atop the preseason conference polls along with WVU Tech this season. Rio Grande lived up to their billing, outscoring the Cardinals by 14 in the first quarter, a deficit that the Cardinals were never able to recover from, ultimately falling 83-70.
Alize Tripp led the Cards by matching her previous career high 20 points from the season opener. Julia Hirt scored a career high 12 points in the game along with Taylor Leatherman's 14 as the next two highest scorers. Several Cardinals had career high minutes in the game including Leatherman, Keirslynn Lawless, and Stephanie Abraham.
The story of the first quarter for the Cardinals was turnovers, as the Red Storm forced 11 in the first 10 minutes of the game. Concordia would go on to turn the ball over a season high 29 times in the game and Rio Grande would finish the game with 29 points off of turnovers. Leatherman and Tripp each hit a triple and scored 5 points a piece in the first period, but Rio Grande sank 12 baskets compared to CUAA's 5 in the quarter to grow their early lead.
Concordia's offense found its rhythm in the second quarter, scoring 28 points to cut into Rio Grande's advantage. Eight different Cardinals scored with Tripp, Hirt, Samantha Dorn, and Mackenzie Howe all hitting triples. The Cardinal defense limited the Red Storm to just 33.3% from the field in the second as well.
No Cardinal scored more than 4 points in the third quarter of play, but the Red Storm were only able to grow their lead 4 points in the period. Lawless brought the game within four points with a made jump shot three minutes into the second half, but Rio Grande responded with 9 straight to widen the gap.
Freshman Julia Hirt shined in the final quarter, putting up a team high 7 points. The Red Storm scored half of their 16 points from the charity stripe in the fourth, on their way to maintaining a 13 victory over the Cardinals.
The Cards will enter WHAC play this Wednesday, November 10th as they travel to Lawrence Tech. Tip off will be at 5:30 PM in Southfield, Michigan.
