Three days after scoring 41 points in a loss to the Milwaukee School of Engineering, the Concordia-Chicago women's basketball team put up 41 points in the first half of today's home game against Marian University. The Cougars rode the momentum of their highest-scoring half of the season and defeated the Sabres by a final score of 78-64 in Northern Athletics Conference play.
The Cougars cranked up the offense early, scoring eight straight points after Marian had put the first three points of the game on the boards. Krystyna Rickett (Sandusky, MI/H.S.), who went scoreless in Wednesday's game, sandwiched two shots from three-point range around a pair of free throws by Bobbie May (Sandusky, MI/H.S.). Marian's Elizabeth Kutz came off the bench and scored twice to get the Sabres back into the chase. but the Cougars stayed hot from the outside. Rickett nailed her third from downtown, and Melissa Schwab (Elmhurst, IL/York Community) hit a three just seconds after entering the game; Concordia led 17-7 just eight minutes into the game.
The Sabres began to connect from the outside themselves, helped by reserve Anna Smit. However, the Cougars' 8-13 shooting from three-point range ensured that they would hold on to their advantage. Freshman Kassy Koehler (Belvidere, IL/Rockford Lutheran) added to the attack with a pair of treys, her second giving the Cougars their biggest lead of the half at 17. Concordia ended the half with a 41-27 lead.
While Concordia's defense allowed Marian five threes in the first half, their defense was superb on one of the country's top three-point shooters. Marian's Sarah Albert entered today's game having hit 49 of 86 threes, a .570 percentage. However, the Cougars held Albert 0-6 from the field overall, 0-4 on threes for the half. Albert would never get on track for the game, finishing with just three points.
The Cougars led by 16 five minutes into the second half before the visitors rallied. The Sabres began to attack inside, sparked by guard Dani Huray; her two free throws put Marian within nine, and Zutz followed with a layup that made the score Concordia 53, Marian 46 with 10:05 remaining.
April Broska's (New Boston, MI/Lutheran South) three stemmed the tide, and Kellie Murphy (Johnsburg, IL/Marian Central Catholic) scored on a second-chance opportunity to restore Concordia's lead to 12. Shortly after, May scored four points and Claire Mackey (Shelton, NE/Heartland Lutheran) hit a short jumper to put Concordia up 69-52 with under four minutes left and halt any further thoughts by Marian of a comeback.
Rickett led all scorers with 21 points and also added a game-high 13 rebounds. May was next in line with 17 points, and Koehler chipped in with 13. The Cougars shot 44 percent overall on 23-52 but were 53 percent from the outside on 10-19.
Huray led Marian (11-7, 7-4 NAC) with 15 points. She was followed by Alexis Becker with 13, Bianca Whittington with 10 and Zutz with 10 points and 10 rebounds. The Sabres shot 34 percent overall on 23-67, 22 percent on 7-32 threes.
Concordia (6-10, 4-7 NAC) will host Rockford College Tuesday night at 7:00.
