WAVERLY, Iowa — No. 18 Wartburg (2-0) defeated No. 13/16 Concordia-Moorhead (1-1) 73-44 inside Levick Arena to close play at the Wartburg Tip-Off Tournament. The regular season top-25 win is the first for the Knights since the 2023-24 season.
Wartburg pulled away from the Cobbers after a 12-0 second-quarter run stretched a seven-point lead to 19. The Knights finished the contest with 27 points off 24 Concordia turnovers and finished with 16 assists, 11 steals and six blocks as a team.
Grace Hennessy led all scorers today with 17 points on 7-11 shooting from the field and three made three-pointers.
How It Happened
First Half
Concordia-M'head started with 3-pointers from Paige Breuer and Olivia Hanson around a
Grace Hennessy 3-pointer, but
Emma Townsley's two free throws at 8:12 pulled the Knights within 6-5. Hennessy hit another 3-pointer at 7:35 to put the Orange and Black ahead 8-6, and Townsley's 3-pointer off
Maddie Pavelka's assist capped an 8-0 stretch for an 11-6 lead at 6:10. Maya Metcalf scored inside for Concordia-M'head, but Hennessy connected again from 3-point range and
Corrie Harrison added a layup as the Knights moved in front 16-8.
Katie Boulanger's layup made it 18-10, and Metcalf went 4-for-4 at the line over the final 2:07 to trim the Knights' lead to 18-14 at the end of the first quarter.
Maya Metcalf hit a 3-pointer at 9:43 to leave the Knights ahead 18-17, but the Orange and Black held Concordia-M'head scoreless for more than five minutes while building the lead to 26-17. Harrison made two free throws and later scored on a tip-in,
Katie Boulanger added two free throws, and
Reagan Pagniano finished a layup off an assist from
Lauren Golinghorst before Metcalf ended the stretch with a layup at 4:12. The Knights answered with a 12-0 run, getting a
Maddie Pavelka 3-pointer, a Pagniano layup, five points from Boulanger and an
Emma Townsley layup to move ahead 38-19 with 47 seconds left. Kaitlyn Rohloff scored the final basket for Concordia-M'head, and the Orange and Black led 38-21 at halftime.
Second Half
Townsley scored inside at 8:43 to put the Knights ahead 40-21, and
Lauren Golinghorst's two free throws and
Corrie Harrison's layup later pushed the lead to 44-25. Concordia-M'head held the Orange and Black scoreless for more than four minutes after Harrison's basket, getting a free throw from Peyton Breidenbach and three from Maci Wheeldon before Golinghorst finished a layup off an assist from Pagniano at 2:47 for a 46-29 Knights lead. After Maya Metcalf made two free throws for Concordia-M'head, the Orange and Black closed the quarter with eight straight points, including
Grace Hennessy's layups at 2:34 and 1:36 and a Golinghorst basket off a
Laynee Hogan assist in between. Hogan added the final Knights basket with 25 seconds left, sending the Orange and Black to the fourth quarter ahead 54-31.
Hennessy opened the Knights' fourth-quarter scoring with a jumper at 9:40 and later put back an offensive rebound, while Brynn Larson's two free throws and 3-pointer moved the score to 58-36. Pagniano came up with two steals in the next stretch, and the Orange and Black turned the first into
Lauren Golinghorst's 3-pointer at 7:22 before Golinghorst hit another 3-pointer with 5:27 left to make it 65-37. Concordia-M'head got 3-pointers from Peyton Breidenbach and Tatum Findley around a Harrison free throw, but Harrison scored inside after Hogan blocked Nora Roney's shot and secured the rebound.
Ashleigh Amble added a layup off
Ally Poegel's assist, Pagniano made two late free throws and
Sydney Lamkin's steal led to a free throw at :57 as the Knights closed out the 73-44 win.
Top Performers
Grace Hennessy
- 17 points
- 7 field goals
- 3 3-pointers
- 2 blocks
Corrie Harrison
- 12 points
- 9 rebounds
- 3 offensive rebounds
Lauren Golinghorst
- 12 points
- 3 steals
- 4 offensive rebounds
Reagan Pagniano
- 7 assists
- 2 steals
- 6 points
Notes/Streaks
- First ranked win for Wartburg in the regular season since 2023-24
- Today marked the first meeting between these programs
- Five different Knights made a three pointer:
- Pagniano recorded a career-high seven assists
- Golinghorst and Pagniano combined for five steals, while Hennessy tallied two blocks
- The Knights held a 16-24 edge in turnovers as well a 16-8 advantage in assists
Up Next
Up next, the Knights will take on another nationally ranked opponent in No. 4/6 University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh on Friday, Nov. 13, at 7 p.m. in Rock Island, Ill.
