1997-98 Concordia Women's Basketball
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Concordia womenâs bench has big night
By Eric Peterson 1/6/98
The Forum

If you missed the introduction of the starting lineups, you would have been hard pressed to distinguish Concordiaâs starters from its reserves Monday.

The Cobbersâ bench combined for 39 points to lead Concordia to a 74-53 victory over Macalester in Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference womenâs basketball at Concordiaâs Memorial Auditorium.

Freshman Rebecca Karli paced the bench production, leading Concordia with 13 points. Fellow reserves Nichole Walla, Nikki Vetter and Brandi Myers added 12, 8 and 6 respectively.

"We donât skip a beat when we go to our bench," said Concordia coach Kathy Wall. "Thatâs important because when we start playing every other day, itâs going to be how deep can your bench go."

Karli said Concordiaâs starters are the reason the bench has been productive.

"Our practices are just as tough as the games are," Karli said. "We have to go against our starters, so when the games roll around weâre ready to go."

Karli keyed a Concordia second-half run that put the game away. The 13-2 surge, highlighted by nine Karli points, staked the Cobbers to a 57-39 edge with 8 minutes, 45 seconds to play.

The 5-foot-11 forward connected on 6 of her 10 shots from the field, scoring most of her points from inside the paint.

"Weâre definitely moving the ball real well," Karli said. "Weâre doing what we need to do (on offense), moving the ball inside and out."

Vetter led the Cobbersâ outside game, hitting both of the 3-pointers she attempted.

Concordia took control of the game late in the first half, generating a 17-4 run that started with a Sara Kragerud 17-foot jumper from the right baseline with 4:47 remaining.

Walla, who scored six points during the scoring spree, capped the surge. The 6-foot-2 junior center hit a free throw line jumper just before the halftime buzzer, giving the Cobbers a 40-27 lead.

"We had a real good last five minutes (of the first half)," Wall said. "We really poured it on. Itâs something weâve been working on; playing a full game."

Concordia has won four straight games, including two in the last three days.

"We feel good about how weâre molding," Wall said. "But we have a long way to go."

MACALESTER (2-3, 3-5): Patterson 2-5 1-2 5, Spaid 1-1 0-0 2, Wilson 3-6 2-2 9, McAnnany 2-3 1-2 5, Amundson 7-14 0-0 14, Herwig 1-4 0-0 2, Bowerman 3-10 0-0 8, Martin 0-5 2-3 2, Carlson 0-0 0-0 0, Stebbins 2-2 2-2 6. Totals: 21-50 8-11 53.

CONCORDIA (4-1, 6-2): Kragerud 3-4 0-0 6, Meyers 2-3 2-2 6, Vetter 2-5 2-2 8, Jacobson 5-10 0-0 11, Schwichtenberg 1-9 2, Backer 0-1 0-0 0, Karli 6-10 1-1 13, Spears 2-7 0-0 4, Walla 5-7 2-2 12, Sonstelie 4-10 4-5 12. Totals: 30-66 11-12 74.

Halftime: Concordia 40, Macalester 27. 3-point goals: Macalester 3-10 (Bowerman 2-8, Wilson 1-1), Concordia 3-9 (Vetter 2-2, Jacobson 1-3). Rebounds: Macalester 26 (Amundson 7), Concordia 41 (Spears 9, Sonstelie 7). Steals: Macalester 4, Concordia 5 (Jacobson 3). Assists: Macalester 9 (Amundson 3), Concordia 18 (Vetter 4, Schwichtenberg 4). Total fouls: Macalester 14, Concordia 10. Turnovers: Macalester 15 (Martin 3), Concordia 13 (Jacobson 3, Spears 3).