SCRANTON, Pa. — Concordia’s run the NCAA Division III women’s basketball tournament ended quietly Saturday, doomed by a slow start against a long-time national power.
Host Scranton beat the Cobbers 67-42 at the John Long Center, ending Concordia’s season at 26-5 while the unbeaten Royals (31-0) advanced to their 10th Final Four in program history.
Still, it was what Concordia coach Kim Wagers called a “historic” season for her program. The Cobbers made their first Elite Eight since 1993.
“It’s been unbelievable, historic if you look at how long it’s been, more than 30 years, since we’ve gotten this far in the tournament,” Wagers said. “This group has been outstanding to coach. Losing 90% of our scoring from a year ago, we had four seniors that led the way. They showed our younger players how things should be done and they’ve just been outstanding leaders.”
Concordia’s seniors were guard Taya Jeffrey, guard Taylor Sanfranski, guard Molly Musland and forward Leah Lenz.
Concordia’s Maya Metcalf tries to free herself from the defense of Scranton (Pa.) on Saturday, March 14, in the NCAA Division III women’s basketball quarterfinals in Scranton.
Jim Cella / Cobbers Athletics
Saturday was a tough day from the start.
It was Concordia’s lowest scoring output of the season, eclipsing the 44 points it scored in a December loss to Bethel.
The Cobbers had 20 turnovers.
“They average giving up less than 45 points per game and we turned it over 20 times, so that’s 20 fewer times you have to try and score,” Wagers said. “They have good half-court pressure, but they do a good job on the ball and they just don’t give you much. We didn’t shoot it well. I don’t know that we ever got into the flow of the offense and we were sped up, we just never got into our normal flow — get our feet set, get a good look, take a good shot.”
Concordia’s Alexa Snesrud drives the baseline against Scranton (Pa.) on Saturday, March 14, in the NCAA Division II women’s basketball quarterfinals in Scranton.
Jim Cella / Cobbers Athletics
Sophomore Maya Metcalf had a game-high 17 points for the Cobbers to go with 6 rebounds. She was the only Cobber with more than 8 points.
Kaci Kranson led Scranton with 15 points. Katie Gorski had 13 and two other Royals were in double figures.
The Cobbers dug an early hole, committing four turnovers in the first 5 minutes, 37 seconds of the game as the Royals took an early 10-2 lead. Concordia made just one of its first five shots.
Scranton led 16-8 at the end of the first quarter, helped by 3 for 11 shooting by Concordia (27.3%) and a 12-7 rebounding edge for the Royals.
Concordia trailed 38-21 at halftime, getting outscored 22-13 in the second quarter.
“When we fell behind we had to chase a little bit and you maybe start to force things,” Wagers said. “I thought we did a better job in the second half of settling down, playing together and getting the ball moving a little bit more, but it was too late.”
A short jump shot by Elizabeth Bennett gave Scranton a 20-point lead, 33-13, with 2:47 left in the second quarter.
Concordia was able to whittle it down to 15 points at 35-20 as Maya Metchalf scored seven straight points for the Cobbers.
Concordia’s Maya Metcalf goes up for a jump shot against Scranton (Pa.) on Saturday, March 14, in the NCAA Division III quarterfinals in Scranton.
Jim Cella / Cobbers Athletics
The Royals got off to a fast start in the third quarter and led by as many as 24 points.
“They’re really deep, they play a lot of kids,” Wagers said. “Their guards are able to pressure the heck out of the ball in the half-court and their front court is long and lanky and quick and they’re just all over the place.”
Scranton has been one of the best Division III women’s programs for more than a decade, making their 18th appearance in the national tournament quarterfinals. The Royals are ranked fourth in the division’s power index — Concordia was 12th — and are ranked No. 1 nationally in several statistical categories. Entering the game, the Royals were first in scoring defense (42.1 points per game), first in scoring margin (39.6 points per game), first in assists per game (20.5) and first in assist/turnover ratio.
Scranton was ranked in the top five in numerous other categories.
CONCORDIA (26-5): Jeffrey 1-4 0-0 2, Safranski 1-4 0-0 3, Musland 0-2 0-0 0, Metcalf 7-14 2-2 17, Gruba 1-2 0-0 2, Snesrud 1-3 6-8 8, Hanson 1-2 0-0 2, Lenz 0-0 0-0 0, Gack 1-5 4-4 6, Rohloff 0-2 2-2 2. Totals: 13-38 14-16 42.
SCRANTON (31-0): Romanowski 2-4 5-6 10, Kranson 6-16 2-2 15, Sloan 3-5 0-0 7, Lamanna 5-10 1-2 11, Gorski 6-9 0-0 13, Stoupakis 0-0 0-0 0, Bennett 3-7 0-0 7, Talutto 2-5 0-0 4, Francione 0-0 0-0 0, Raguso 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 27-57 6-10 67.
Halftime: S 38, CC 21. 3-point goals: CC 2-11 (Safranski 1-3, Musland 0-1, Metcalf 1-3, Gruba 0-1, Snesrud 0-1, Gack 0-2), S 5-17 (Romanowski 1-1, Kranson 1-5, Sloan 1-1, Lamanna 0-5, Gorski 1-1, Bennett 1-3, Talutto 0-1). Rebounds: CC 26 (Metcalf 6, Snesrud 6), S 27 (Romanowski 9). Assists: CC 8 (Snesrud 2, Rohloff 2), S 16 (Romanowski 4). Steals: CC 4 (Gack 2), S 15 (Romanowski 5). Blocks: CC 3 (Metcalf 2), S 3 (Kranson 1, Gorski 1, Bennett 1). Turnovers: CC 20 (Safranski 4), S 8 (Bennett 3).
Mike McFeely is a columnist for The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead. He began working for The Forum in the 1980s while he was a student studying journalism at Minnesota State University Moorhead. He’s been with The Forum full time since 1990, minus a six-year hiatus when he hosted a local radio talk-show.