anaheim, calif. - senior candace olstad hit nothing but nylon on a late three-pointer and then blocked a cal poly pomona (0-2) three-point attempt with 25 seconds remaining to secure a 68-64 concordia win saturday afternoon at the disney’s west coast tip-off classic. The golden bears rallied back from a halftime deficit to take a late lead and go up 2-0 on the year.
a second half that saw the broncos up by as many as ten points intensified as the golden bears closed the gap by playing exceptional defense. A progression of a kelly supernaw triple, zoraa quoie set of free throws and supernaw jumper in the paint combined with solid defensive stops gave the golden bears their first lead, 60-58 with just under four minutes to play. Candace olstad kept the momentum swinging her team’s way as she canned a three-pointer near the minute mark to put cu up 65-62. Olstad secured the win for her team by blocking a cpp three-point attempt and nabbing the ball to give the possession back to cu. The concordia defense did not allow a field goal for the last three minutes of play.
the win was big for concordia as they proved to themselves that they could overcome a halftime deficit and cool shooting and stay in the game. The entire game was physical and played at an uptempo pace, leading to a tight score for the majority of the first half. The golden bears led 13-12 at the 11:41 mark but as players began to be pulled due to fouls, the broncos of cal poly took over the pace of the game. Under continued pressure, concordia struggled to find the hoop in the waning minutes of the half while the broncos went on a 17-6 run to go up 29-19. The golden bears were down 31-25 at the half.
quoie had ten first half points to lead the team while kelly supernaw brought in five of the team’s 23 rebounds. The golden bears hit 7-of-30 shots from the field for 28.3% shooting compared to cal poly’s 11-of-33 shooting (33.3%). Both teams relied on inside play and combined for only three long range shots in the half.
the golden bears wasted no time chipping away at the bronco lead in the second half. A jamie jones three-point shot brought the score to 38-35 at the 16 minute mark. The broncos answered with solid shooting of their own and went up by as many as eight points. But concordia’s defense eventually won out as the team came back to regain the lead and rally for the win. Notably, the golden bears took much better care of the ball in the second period, turning it over only three times in the final 20 minutes.
quoie finished with a team high 16 points, hitting 10-of-12 shots from the stripe. She also had seven boards and five assists. Senior abby nielsen stepped in and played a key role in the cu win, scoring eight second half points before finishing the game with ten. kali olstad, jones and supernaw each followed with eight points. Candace olstad had five points, four rebounds and three blocked shots. The team shot 29.5% from the field (18-61), nailed eight three-pointers and connected on 24 free throws.
the golden bears were out-matched on the boards 43-54 and gave up 20 offensive rebounds. Their pressure held the broncos to only 16 second chance points, however. Concordia capitalized on many of cpp’s 17 turnovers, scoring 17 points on their extra possessions. The golden bears had eight steals in the game. shandrell duncan led the squad with eight rebounds.
cal poly shot 30.9% from the field (21-68) but hit only three of 13 long range attempts. Stephisha walton led all players with 19 points and 16 rebounds. She also had three steals, two blocks and two assists. Two other broncos finished in double figures for scoring.
the golden bears wrap up play in california with a 4:00 pm (ct) game against the university of indianapolis, which should prove to be an even tougher matchup than the team’s first two challenges of the year.
