Jan. 25, 2013 - The Concordia University Chicago men's and women's basketball teams take a break from Northern Athletics Conference play this weekend for the annual excitement of the Concordia Invitational Tournament. This year's tournament, the 62nd, is being held at the Walz Arena on the campus of Concordia University Nebraska.
The Cougar women, winners of five in a row after beating Aurora University 69-54 Tuesday night, will face a formidable challenge in Friday night's 6:00 game against host Concordia Nebraska. The Lady Bulldogs are currently 19-2 overall and second in the NAIA Division II rankings. The Cougars will be challenged with slowing down the guard tandem of Kristen Conahan (15.7 points per game) and Bailey Morris (14.9).
Junior
Jessica Genke's strong play of late has coincided with the Cougars' run of victories. Genke, the NAC Women's Basketball Student-Athlete of the Week over the last two weeks, is averaging 25.6 points and 10.8 rebounds over CUC's last five games.
Krystyna Rickett (13.8) and
April Broska (10.8) have also boosted the offense during the two-week span, but the Cougars' collective defensive play has been an important factor as well. The Cougars have held their opponents to 34 percent shooting from the field and 57.8 points per game.
The Cougar men will face Concordia Nebraska in Friday night's 8:00 contest. The Bulldog men are currently on a 14-game losing streak after a 5-1 start to the season. Porter Birtell, a 6'6" center, leads CUNE with 13.6 points and 5.2 rebounds per game. Guard Charles Dunbar scored 23 Wednesday night as the Bulldogs came within eight points of upsetting 12th-ranked Doane College.
The last three games have shown signs of better days ahead for the Cougar men. A 66-63 win over Rockford College last Thursday gave CUC its second win in conference play. That was followed by tough but very competitive losses to NAIA power Robert Morris University and current NAC South Division leader Aurora University.
Taylor Rawlings,
Brandon Stinson and
Aurtiro Houston combined for 42 points as the Cougars held a three-point lead with 1:15 left in Wednesday's game at Aurora, only to see the Spartans score the final six points for a 66-63 victory. Rawlings has averaged 11.7 points and 11.0 rebounds over the last three games. The Cougars are also buoyed by the return of
Marcus Elston in Wednesday's game. Elston is averaging 10.0 points for the season,
second to
Khirey Floyd's 10.1.
All games of this weekend's CIT can be followed via Live Stats and live streaming video. Please see below for links:
Streaming video
Live Stats for Men's Games
Live Stats for Women's Games
