Jessica Rahman started working her way back into coaching shape Saturday at Memorial Auditorium.
Rahman was back on the Concordia bench Saturday - after more than a month off - to watch her Cobbers score a 67-58 victory against Bethel in Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference women's basketball.
"It's like a building process, getting my stamina again," Rahman said. "I sat about the whole game. That's unusual. I usually like to pace."
Rahman missed the Cobbers (5-3, 4-1 MIAC) previous five games after having surgery on Nov. 25 to remove a benign tumor from her stomach.
Concordia went 3-2 in that stretch with assistant coach Rachel Bergeson taking over as interim head coach.
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"The coaching staff needs to have a big thank you because they did a great job," Rahman said. "It was a little more recovery than I was expecting. The one thing I learned is when I reach my limit, I have to rest."
Rahman remained seated on the bench for the majority of Saturday's game, leaving it to her assistants to bark out plays and encouragement.
"It was funny to have to watch her sit," said Concordia junior Sara Sorbo, who had 12 points, six assists and three steals. "It was hard for her you could tell. She's always been a vocal coach."
Bergeson and assistants Steph Mayclin and Duane Siverson made the transition seamless with Rahman gone, according to Sorbo.
Siverson was added to the coaching staff when Rahman had the surgery and was still on the bench Saturday to help out with the team.
"They did a good job of keeping it the same," Sorbo said.
However, Sorbo was also happy to see Rahman return.
"It was an addition," Sorbo said. "It was nice to see her face. ...We kept in contact with her. We knew how she was doing."
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Concordia used balanced scoring to pull away from the Royals. Junior guard Anna Matetich paced the Cobbers with 14 points off the bench, including 10 in the second half. Matetich hit 7 of 9 shots from the field. Three other Cobbers reached double digits in scoring. Jenna Freudenberg had 13 points. Sorbo and Lindsey Schultz added 12 apiece.
"It was different not being there for the games they played when I was gone," Rahman said. "I just had a major adrenaline rush. It's good to be back."
BETHEL (3-5, 2-3 MIAC): Hormig 1-4 0-0 2, Wolters 4-9 4-6 14, Nautsch 2-10 4-6 8, Laugen 0-1 0-0 0, Sheley 4-14 3-5 12, Grejtak 1-3 0-0 2, Beasley 3-8 5-5 13, Hansen 3-4 1-3 7, Grones 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 18-53 17-25 58.
CONCORDIA (5-3, 4-1): Grabowski 1-3 0-0 2, Freudenberg 5-10 2-4 13, Schultz 5-7 2-2 12, Nord 2-3 2-2 6, Sorbo 5-10 1-2 12, Jossart 1-5 0-0 2, Matetich 7-9 0-0 14, Bauernfiend 0-5 0-0 0, Green 2-6 2-2 6. Totals 28-58 9-12 67.
Half: CC 30, Bethel 24. 3-point goals: Bethel 5-11 (Wolters 2-5, Sheley 1-2, Beasley 2-4), CC 2-16 (Freudenberg 1-4, Nord 0-1, Sorbo 1-4, Jossart 0-2, Bauernfiend 0-4, Green 0-1). Total fouls: Bethel 11, CC 19. Rebounds: Bethel 32 (Wolters 9), CC 31 (Freudenberg 10). Assists: Bethel 8 (Sheley 3), CC 17 (Sorbo 6). Steals: Bethel 12 (Grejtak 3, Beasley 3), CC 16 (Freudenberg 3, Sorbo 3). Rebounds: Bethel 25, CC 21.
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