Concordia Women Open Season with 67-46 Win
BOX SCORE - Concordia vs. New Hope
PORTLAND, Ore.—Holding New Hope Christian to just five field goals in the first half, the Concordia University women’s basketball team opened its regular season with a 67-46 win at home against New Hope Christian on Tuesday.
Coming off four exhibition matches against NCAA DI opponents over a seven-day span, the Cavalier held the Deacons to 17 percent shooting in the first half of play to open up a 34-17 advantage at the break.
Shooting would prove difficult for both teams in the early stages as the first seven shots of the game were off target.
New Hope’s Chelsea Dyson put the first points on the board with a jumper at the 17:29 mark. Both teams would post a single free throw before the Cavs recorded their first basket via a Kelly Huey 3-pointer after a full four minutes had elapsed on the clock.
The Deacons would hold three one-point leads over the next few minutes, the final with the score at 11-10, before the Cavs went on a 24-to-6 run over the final 12 minutes to end the first half of play.
Taking a 17-point lead into the second half, the Cavaliers continued to extend the advantage despite shooting 39.7 percent over the final 20 minutes. The Deacons meanwhile, fired at a 23.8 rate in the second half to boost Concordia to the 21-point win.
“We have been preaching ‘defense, defense, defense’,” head coach Aaron Christian said. “We did a great job in the first half. It was close for a while but the really bought into getting stops.”
Malori Dixon led the Cavs with 11 points in the first half before finishing with a game-high 25 points.
The senior guard hit 12 of 20 attempts from the field and added three rebounds and three steals.
After Dixon, six other Cavs scored at least five points with Gabi Beyer next on the list with eight and Randi McReynolds next up with a seven-point night. Huey finished with five points but grabbed a team-high eight boards.
“We were definitely excited to be on our home floor and have our crowd,” Gabi Beyer. “We learned a lot from playing those DI games. We were a little nervous to start today, but we gained a lot of experience and team chemistry that will help us out in the long run.”
Lei Lolohea scored a team-high 16 points for the Deacons, shooting 5 of 10 from the floor.
Concordia will turn around on Thursday for its second game of the season when it hosts Willamette University. Opening tip is set for 7 p.m. against the Bearcats inside the Cavalier Gymnasium.