Jan. 18, 2012 - Concordia traveled to Milwaukee for the second time in five days, this time to take on the Milwaukee School of Engineering. Tonight's contest saw the Cougars make an impressive comeback from a big deficit, but a nine-point run in the second half by MSOE proved to be the deciding factor in a 46-41 Raiders' win.
A three by
Kassy Koehler (Belvidere, IL/Rockford Lutheran) and a free throw by
Bobbie May (Sandusky, MI/H.S.) gave the Cougars an early 4-2 lead. However, Koehler's field goals would be Concordia's only one for the first 13 minutes as the visitors missed 12 of their first 13 from the field. When May hit a jumper in the lane at the 7:07 mark, the Cougars trailed by a 20-8 count.
The Raiders' lead went to 22-8 before the Cougars began to claw back by way of the three ball. Koehler and
Melissa Schwab (Elmhurst, IL/York Community) hit threes from the right wing to put the Cougars back to within 10 points. The Raiders answered with a basket by Shannon Larson, but the Cougars continued to fire away from downtown
. April Broska (New Boston, MI/Lutheran South) connected on one, and Schwab hit two more to bring Concordia within 24-23. The Cougars had a chance to grab the lead in the final seconds of the half, but Schwab's three from the right side was wiped out by a travel call. Nonetheless, momentum was with Concordia as the two teams went into the locker room at the break.
The Cougars stayed close and eventually tied the game 30-30 on a three-point play by May with 12:40 left, but the Raiders answered right back. A 9-0 run by the hosts started with a basket by Larson and ended with a three from Kathleen Collingbourne before Broska's three at the 7:50 mark put an end to the run.
Concordia made one final comeback try trailing 45-35 as Koehler hit a 12-foot jumper and May hit a pair of free throws. The defense gave the Cougars a chance to inch back further in the final 90 seconds, but Rickett and Koehler missed from long range, and the Raiders hung on for the victory.
Concordia finished with 14-51 from the field (.275), 7-18 on threes (.389) and 6-7 (.857) from the line. May led the Cougars with 16 points on 5-17 from the field and 6-7 at the line. Schwab was next in line with nine while Koehler and Broska had eight each.
MSOE's (10-5, 7-2 NAC) balanced scoring attack was led by Larson's 10 points and Marguerite Wellstein's nine. The Raiders shot 19-52 (.365) from the field, 1-14 (.071) on threes and 7-12 (.583) on free throws. MSOE committed just 12 turnovers to Concordia's 18, but the Cougars held a slim 37-36 edge on the boards, led by
Krystyna Rickett's (Sandusky, MI/H.S.) eight.
Concordia (5-10, 3-7 NAC) will return home to face Marian University on Saturday afternoon, the first of four straight home games for the Cougar women.