Cougars Survive Stars for Second in South
Feb. 5, 2013 - The Cougar women's push for a first-round Northern Athletics Conference tournament game at home took a big step forward tonight. Concordia's 81-70 win over Dominican University and a Benedictine loss to Wisconsin Lutheran created a tie for second in the NAC South Division. The Cougars will lock up second place with wins over Milwaukee Engineering this Saturday and Benedictine next Wednesday.
Concordia's win this evening at the Igini Sports Forum did not come without a determined effort from their Division Street rival. The Stars overcame a 15-point deficit to take a brief lead in the second half, but the Cougars executed down the stretch to record their ninth win of the season.
The two teams matched baskets in the early going. Concordia focused its attack inside as
April Broska (New Boston, MI/Lutheran South) drove the lane for five points including a three-point play.
Jessica Genke (Kiel, WI/H.S.) hit a few shots despite having the Stars' defense concentrated on her.
Trailing 11-10, the Cougars seized control with a big run. Broska and Genke hit from close in before the Cougars then moved the attack outside
. Kassy Koehler (Belvidere, IL/Rockford Lutheran) and
Ashley DiCristofano (Elmwood Park, IL/H.S.) hit mid-range jumpers, and Broska and DiCristofano knocked down threes. A Stacey Reynolds free throw ended the Cougars' string of unanswered points at 14, but
Chanel Stelmachowicz (Fredonia, WI/Living Word Lutheran) came back with a three from the top of the key to give Concordia its largest lead at 27-12.
The Stars came back behind the inside play of Laura Knieps. Dominican's center shot only 1-5 in the half, but she was effective at drawing fouls and converting eight of nine free throws. Allie Tapanes also added a couple of three balls, and the Stars closed to within one point late in the half. But Genke scored on three straight possessions, and Broska added a scoop layup in the final seconds to push Concordia's lead to 38-33 after 20 minutes.
Koehler helped the Cougars to a fast start in the second half. The sophomore hit a baseline jumper followed by a left-corner three as the Cougars kicked their lead back up to 10 points.
The Cougars maintained their lead, but shaking the pesky Stars was a difficult task. Katie Budz hit a pair of threes, and Knieps continued her strong play in the paint. Stacey Reynolds also chipped in with a couple of scores, and her basket at the 8:49 mark gave Dominican its first lead since early in the game at 59-58.
Concordia did not stay down long, however
. Krystyna Rickett (Sandusky, MI/H.S.) scored on an aggressive drive to the basket, and
Angelik Young (Crete, IL/Crete-Monee) followed with a putback. Dominican kept pushing to stay close, but the Cougars returned to an inside focus as Young, Genke and Broska all scored from close in. Concordia finally put the game on ice from the foul line in the final few minutes.
Genke led the Cougars with a top effort of 22 points (11-25 from the field), 13 rebounds and seven blocked shots. Rickett scored 12 of her 16 points in the second half and handed out a season-high 10 assists, just missing a triple-double with nine rebounds. Broska tallied 15 points, and Young scored 11 points, all in the second half, to go with six rebounds.
Knieps led the Stars with 21 points including 13-15 at the foul line. Reynolds scored 15 points (12 in the second half) and pulled down 12 rebounds. Budz followed with 13 points and Tapanes with 11.
Concordia (9-14, 9-6 NAC) will host the Milwaukee School of Engineering Saturday afternoon at 2:00. It will be "Think Pink" Day for the Cougars as they will look to raise funds for the Kay Yow Cancer Society.
