Feb. 16, 2011 - The Concordia women's basketball team ensured a happy Senior Night for three of their players with a 63-56 win over Aurora University. The win was the Cougars' ninth of the season and completed a season sweep of the Spartans after a seven-point win last month.

 

The Cougars' three seniors all made their presence felt in the first two minutes of the game. Marche Smith (Oak Park, IL/Trinity) opened the scoring with a three-point basket that was assisted by Michaela Thomas (Long Beach, CA/Richard Gahr). Katie Leitermann (Milwaukee, WI/Martin Luther) followed suit with a three (assisted by Smith) on the next possession to give Concordia a quick 6-0 lead.Over the next few minutes, Claire Mackey (Shelton, NE/Heartland Lutheran) hit a short jumper and Smith followed with another three for an 11-2 edge.

 

Aurora's Devin Barth came off the bench to shoot in a couple of threes and help the visitors fight their way back into the game. The Spartans closed to within 17-16 late in the half, but a three-point play by Maja Despot (Glen Ellyn, IL/Glenbard South) and a free throw by Leitermann put Concordia p by four points headed into the break.

 

Both teams came out for the second half with their offensive games in tow. Five early points by Michelle Perry let Aurora grab its first lead of the night at 24-23, but the Cougars answered quickly with a 10-0 run highlighted by Krystyna Rickett's (Sandusky, MI/H.S.) putback.

 

Undaunted, the Spartans came back with a couple of threes by Jen Robinson and crept within 33-32. The game stayed close from that point, and Aurora eventually regained the lead on Perry's layup to go up 46-44 with 6:44 remaining.

 

Concordia had one more big run left in them, and they scored the next nine points to take charge for good. The Cougars unleashed a flurry of threes by Smith, Rickett and Smith again within a 65-second span. The Spartans would rally back to within five, but Mackey and Rickett came back with clutch baskets to put Concordia up 10 points at the two-minute mark and put a capper on the victory.

 

Smith led the Cougars with 18 points, seven rebounds and six steals. Smith now has 1,887 career points and, with six more, will become the all-time leading scorer in Concordia basketball history, passing men's career leader Wayne Hesse.

 

Also for Concordia, Rickett poured in 12 points, all in the second half. Leitermann finished with nine points and eight rebounds. The Cougars' bench was strong tonight with Mackey notching nine points and seven rebounds, and Despot contributing five points and a game-high 11 rebounds.

 

With the win, the Cougars finish fifth in the NAC South Division. They will host Alverno College in Saturday's NAC Challenge Game at 2:00.