Nov. 26, 2013 - The Cougar women's basketball team's first road game of the season took them to Dubuque, Iowa to play the Loras College Duhawks. The game was a classic tale of two halves with Loras owning the first half. A torrid shooting second half by the Cougars made things interesting, but it could not bring them all the way back from a 24-point halftime deficit. Concordia-Chicago fell to 0-2 on the season with a 73-58 loss to Loras.
The first half saw the Duhawks attack the inside relentlessly. Forward Katie Wheeler set the tone as she scored seven early points to spark Loras to a quick 11-4 lead. The Duhawks also prospered in the paint with the help of 12 offensive rebounds.
On the other end of the floor, the Cougars managed to get some open shots but could not get them to fall. Concordia shot an ice-cold 5-25 from the floor overall, 2-15 from three-point range. All of this added up to a 40-16 deficit after 20 minutes of play.
The Cougars caught some energy to start the second half. Jessica Genke (Kiel, WI/H.S.), held to two points in the first half, came out with a two and a three out of CUC's first 11 points. Morgan Jahnke (Fox Lake, IL/Grant Community) and Kassy Koehler (Belvidere, IL/Rockford Lutheran) knocked down threes, and the Cougars had the Duhawks' lead down to 49-33 just six minutes in.
Loras extended its lead back up to 20, but Concordia continued to fight back. Jahnke hit a three before Koehler took over. Koehler scored CUC's next nine points on a trio of triples, and suddenly the Cougars were within 57-45. A pair of free throws by Broska chipped the deficit down to 10, still with 8:35 remaining.
The Duhawks responded with threes by Emma Bradford and Naomi Phillips, but the Cougars continued to hang around. Koehler nailed yet another three, and Jahnke hit four straight free throws. Once again, it was a 10-point game (65-55) but, with 3:54 remaining, time was becoming a factor.
Finally, the Duhawks put the game out of reach. Wheeler scored on a fast break, and Katie Langmeier made good on a three-point play to put the finishing touches on the hosts' victory.
Koehler hit 6-10 on threes in the second half for all of her 18 points. Jahnke also scored 18 on three treys and 9-10 from the free throw line while adding four assists. Broska finished with 10 points, 11 rebounds and five assists.
For Loras (3-2), Wheeler tallied 13 points followed by Langmeier and Phillips with 11 each. The Duhawks won the battle of the boards 57-37 and also scored 40 of their points in the paint.
Concordia will return to action on Saturday when they play at Lakeland College as part of a men's/women's doubleheader.
