Feb. 11, 2012 - Showing coolness under pressure, the Concordia-Chicago women's basketball team defeated the Milwaukee School of Engineering 61-50 this afternoon at Geiseman Gymnasium. The win allowed Concordia to clinch a berth in the Northern Athletics Conference tournament. The Cougars (8-15, 6-10 NAC) are tied with Benedictine University for third place in the South Division with one game remaining in the regular season.

Concordia entered today's game shooting just .658 for the season from the free throw line. Yet, free throws were the key to victory today. Concordia made good on 22 of 25 for the game including a sizzling 19-21 (91 percent) in the second half.

The Cougars never trailed in this game, thanks in part to a great defensive start that overcame a rough first nine minutes on offense. Krystyna Rickett (Sandusky, MI/H.S.) and Bobbie May (Sandusky, MI/H.S.), two of the five players honored today in Senior Day ceremonies, scored to give the Cougars a 4-0 lead. On the other end of the floor, the Cougars forced the Raiders into missing their first seven shots while committing seven turnovers. Courtney Leaf's three at the 11:40 mark finally put MSOE on the board, but Concordia remained in the lead with a basket by Kassy Koehler (Belvidere, IL/Rockford Lutheran) and a three by senior Cristina Calabrese (Schiller Park, IL/East Leyden).

Both teams' offense began to gather steam midway through the half, but the Cougars did some of their damage from the outside. April Broska (New Boston, MI/Lutheran South) and Calabrese hit back-to-back threes to double up the Raiders 20-10. However, a couple of late baskets by MSOE ended the half with Concordia clinging to a 21-14 lead.

The Raiders began the second half with their biggest burst of the day, scoring six points over the first 1:40 to make it a one-point game. However, the Cougars came through with the threes once again as Rickett and Calabrese both found the range to keep Concordia in the lead.

Five points by Marguerite Wellstein brought MSOE back to within one at the nine-minute mark, but the Raiders put the Cougars into the bonus at that time. Concordia managed just four field goals over the final nine minutes but sank 15 free throws in that span. Leading the way was May who hit 9-10 down the stretch and finished the game 10-11 as part of her 18-point effort. May also had a key basket with 4:24 remaining as the Cougars opened up their lead to six and began to put some distance between themselves and the Raiders.

Joining May in double-figure scoring were Rickett with 13, Calabrese with 12 and Broska with 10. Conversely, the Raiders had no one with more than nine points. A highlight of Concordia's defensive effort was holding MSOE top scorer Carol Cayo to just eight points on 3-8 from the field and 2-2 at the line. The Cougars also forced the Raiders into 19 turnovers.

Concordia's game at Aurora will be broadcast via live stats and video. Fans are encouraged to go to www.cucougars.com for links to the live coverage.