Feb. 18, 2012 - The Concordia Cougar women's basketball team had their two-game winning streak snapped this afternoon, falling to Concordia University Wisconsin 54-43 in the Northern Athletics Conference Challenge Game.
The Falcons and Cougars entered the game locked in as the third and sixth seeds respectively for the upcoming NAC tournament. However, both teams had to wait for the conclusion of the Lakeland/Milwaukee Engineering game. MSOE prevailed 60-53, meaning that Concordia will travel to the Kern Center in Milwaukee to take on the third-seeded Raiders for the second time in 11 days. The Cougars defeated the Raiders last Saturday 61-50 as part of CUC's Senior Day.
Concordia-Chicago fell behind in the first few minutes but were able to generate some offense via the three-point shot. April Broska (New Boston, MI/Lutheran South) and Krystyna Rickett (Sandusky, MI/H.S.) hit from long range to put the Cougars within 9-8. The Cougars stayed close, and Cristina Calabrese (Schiller Park, IL/WEst Leyden) drilled a three at the 9:31 mark to put the home team in front. However, the Falcons scored the next six points to regain the lead, and they would end the half with a 24-21 lead.
The Cougars briefly regained the lead early in the second half as Calabrese and Broska hit consecutive threes for a 27-26 edge. But Brittany Zietlow (12 points) hit a short jumper to put the Falcons back into the lead, and this time it would be for good.
The Falcons later extended their lead to 10, but Broska's two free throws with 8:43 left made the score CUW 44, CUC 36. The next 2:30 of the game was possibly the decisive stretch as the Cougars missed three opportunities to get closer. Katie Luethe eventually ended the draught with a pair of free throws to put the lead at 10 again.
A free throw by Bobbie May (Sandusky, MI/H.S.) with 2:09 remaining gave the Cougars their final chance at 47-41. However, the Falcons scored their next five points at the foul line while the Cougars missed their next three shots from the field. The Falcons shot 19 free throws in the second half, hitting 13 while the Cougars were just 3-4.
For Concordia Wisconsin, Luethe scored 12 points and shared game-high scoring honors with Zietlow. Camille Parsons added 10 for the Falcons (15-10). Calabrese and May led the Cougars (9-16) with 11 points each while Broska added 10.
