Cougar Women Stunned in Triple-Overtime Thriller
Dec. 4, 2013 - Tough losses happen to every sports team during the course of the season, but it might be said that Wednesday night's Concordia-Chicago women's basketball game deserved a category all its own. The Cougars had victory within their grasp on several occasions, but the Inferno pulled off a couple of miraculous escapes including a halfcourt buzzer-beater that sent the game into a third overtime. Alverno finally seized the momentum in the third extra session and made off with the 95-91 victory.
Foreshadowing what was to be a long evening at Geiseman Gymnasium, travel difficulties for the visitors delayed tipoff for a half-hour. The Cougars then took advantage of the Inferno's "jet lag" by scoring the first 11 points of the game. Jessica Genke (Kiel, WI/H.S.) single-handedly tallied the first eight points before Morgan Jahnke (Fox Lake, IL/Grant Community) rippled the net with a three.
Devon Gorman broke the ice for the visitors with a free throw at the 14:46 mark and then notched the Inferno's first field goal 30 seconds later. The rest of the team soon followed suit, and the Inferno took its first lead at the 6:49 mark. Kristen Speerschneider hit a three to put Alverno on top at 16-14.
The lead did not last for long as Concordia responded with a 15-0 run. Jahnke's three put the Cougars back into the lead, but it was April Broska (Belleville, MI/Lutheran South) that led the charge with eight of the points that resulted from strong drives to the basket. Jamie Hoernke's free throw stopped the run of consecutive points, but Jahnke beat the clock with a driving layup to make the halftime score Cougars 31, Inferno 17.
Concordia-Chicago led by 18 early in the second half before Alverno began to chip away at the lead. The Inferno concentrated their attack inside, led by aggressive play by Gorman and Hoernke. A couple of threes by Speerschneider also helped the comeback, and a three by Anna Boteva with 6:13 remaining allowed the Inferno to finally catch the Cougars at 51-51.
The game remained close down the stretch, but the Cougars appeared to have the advantage. Jahnke's layup with 47 seconds left and Genke's two free throws with 18 seconds left gave the Cougars a 65-62 lead. A Gorman free throw made it a two-point game, but a full-court press by Alverno forced a turnover with nine seconds left. The Inferno got the ball inside to Gorman, and she drove to the basket for the layup that sent the game into a first extra session tied 65-65.
Still, it appeared that the Cougars would not be denied victory on this night. Kassy Koehler (Belvidere, IL/Rockford Lutheran) and Broska hit threes on the first two possessions to put the Cougars up six. However, turnovers limited the Cougars to just two points over the next four minutes, and the visitors drew even at 73-73 on Speerschneider's three with 44 ticks left.
In the second five-minute period, three free throws by Hoernke gave Alverno the early lead. But CUC fought back and took a 79-78 lead on Genke's layup. The Cougars looked to close in on the win as Genke's free throw with 11 seconds remaining made it an 83-79 lead. Gorman cut the lead in half with a short jumper, but the Inferno quickly fouled and put Miranda Rogers (Cypress, TX/Houston Christian) at the line with five seconds left. Rogers hit the first for a three-point lead. The second shot came off the rim as Hannah Skibba tracked down the rebound in the corner. With time running out, Skibba got the ball to Speerschneider who took a couple of dribbles along the right sideline and heaved up a desperation shot as she reached the halfcourt stripe. Speerschneider's prayer was answered as the ball hit the backboard and dropped right through, setting up a third overtime between the celebrating Inferno and the stunned Cougars.
With Genke and Broska having fouled out in the final seconds of the second overtime period and their combined 57 points relegated to the bench for the duration, the Inferno capitalized on a young Cougars' unit on the floor. Gorman's three-point play at the 3:52 mark gave Alverno the lead for good. Concordia fought back to within a single point on three different occasions, the final time at 91-90 on Koehler's layup at the 1:23 mark. However, Gorman's layup and Speerschneider's two free throws in the final 30 seconds would finally seal the deal for Alverno as they earned their fourth victory in five outings this season.
Gorman led all scorers with 30 points on 11-22 from the field and 8-12 from the line. The Inferno's senior forward also pulled down eight rebounds and made six steals. Jamie Hoernke scored 26 points including 14-16 from the line and captured a game-high 14 rebounds. Speerschneider also scored 26, making six of her 13 three-point attempts.
For Concordia, Genke scored 29 points on 9-15 from the field (one three) and 10-12 from the line. Next in line was Broska with a career-high 28 points on 8-11 from the field (3-4 three-pointers) and 9-13 from the line. Both Genke and Broska pulled down 12 rebounds as CUC held a 54-48 advantage on the glass.
The Cougars (0-4, 0-3 NACC) will host Edgewood College on Saturday afternoon. The game will tip off at approximately 4:15 following the men's game.
