Dec. 6, 2011 - The Concordia-Chicago women's basketball team claimed its first Northern Athletics Conference win of the season and second win overall tonight with a 66-52 victory over Benedictine University at Geiseman Gymnasium.
The Cougars' defense set the tone for the game and enabled Concordia to take command early. They held the Eagles to 8-24 (33 percent) from the field in the first half and just 1-13 from three-point range.
Concordia never trailed in the game. They snapped a 5-5 tie with 10 straight points, beginning with
Bobbie May's (Sandusky, MI/H.S.) steal and breakaway layup.
April Broska (New Boston, MI/Lutheran South) canned two three-pointers during the run, and May added two free throws for Concordia's first double-digit lead just eight minutes into the game.
The Cougars took their biggest lead of the half at 17 points as
Cristina Calabrese (Schiller Park, IL/East Leyden) drained a three at the 1:54 mark to make the score 31-14. The Eagles answered with a three-point play by Mary Calov and a basket by Katie Hunzinger before Calabrese's jumper closed the scoring for the half and gave Concordia a 33-19 lead after 20 minutes.
Krystyna Rickett (Sandusky, MI/H.S.) opened the second half by splitting a pair of free throws before Benedictine ran off eight consecutive points, highlighted by Megan Novak's three-point play, to pull within seven. But freshman
Kassy Koehler (Belvidere, IL/Rockford Lutheran) stemmed the tide by hitting threes on consecutive trips down the floor to put the Cougars back up by a double-digit margin at 40-27.
The Eagles made one more run at the Cougars, helped out by Concordia getting into foul trouble. Kam Haifleigh and Hunzinger each hit a pair of free throws to bring Benedictine within 46-39 with 11:47 remaining. This time, it was Rickett to the rescue for the Cougars as she hit two jumpers around a pair of May free throws and a Benedictine basket to put Concordia back up by 11 points. May and Rickett kept the Cougar lead above 10 over the next few minutes and, when Calabrese later hit a three and then a layup on the break, Concordia had stretched their lead to 20 points at 63-43. The final minutes of the game saw both coaches empty their benches and give the reserves some playing time.
May led all scorers with 18 points (4-7 FG, 1-2 3FG, 9-11 FT), and the senior point guard also handed out seven assists and made four steals. Rickett was close behind in scoring with 17 points, and Koehler finished with 11. The Cougars shot 22-60 (37 percent) from the field, 10-28 from three-point range and 12-17 (71 percent) from the free throw line.
Hunzinger led Benedictine (2-6, 1-3 NAC) with 16 points on 4-9 (44 percent) from the field and a perfect 8-8 at the line. Michelle Gaede also finished in double figures with 11 points. The Eagles shot just 17-53 (32 percent) from the field and missed all 12 of their three attempts in the second half to finish 1-25. Benedictine also converted 17 of 23 shots from the foul line for 74 percent.
Concordia (2-5, 1-3 NAC) will return to action Saturday afternoon when they play Lakeland College in Sheboygan, Wisconsin.
