Nov. 19, 2014 - If the first two games of the Concordia-Chicago women's basketball season have shown anything, it is that the Cougars' ability to pressure their opponents will make for many exciting nights at Geiseman Gymnasium. This evening's contest was against the University of Illinois-Springfield, an NCAA Division II team. The taller Prairie Stars built a 21-point lead late in the first half, but the Cougars kept working and made a spirited run at the end before finally bowing by a final score of 71-65.
The visitors took an early 6-0 lead, but CUC was able to keep it close early as Jaela DeJean (Houston, TX/Houston Christian) and Angelik Young (Crete, IL/Crete-Monee) got the Cougars on the board. However, Concordia-Chicago was unable to recover from a poor-shooting first half. The Cougars shot just 8-32 (.250) over the first 20 minutes, 2-15 from behind the arc. The three-pointers did not come until the final minutes of the half when Courtney Lofink (Orange, CA/Orange Lutheran) and Lauren Orr (O'Fallon, MO/Lutheran St. Charles) connected, but CUC still found itself looking up at a 38-23 deficit. Illinois-Springfield shot 15-28 (.536) for the half but, equally as significant, controlled the boards by a margin of 26-13. Leslie Warren led UIS with seven rebounds while Caroline Kelty had the hot hand on offense with 11 first-half points (5-7 shooting).
Concordia-Chicago still trailed by 18 with eight minutes left, but the Cougars had no intentions of closing up shop. Continuing to attack the taller Prairie Stars, the Cougars put the visitors in foul trouble at just past the halfway mark. Chipping away at the foul line, the Cougars pulled within 12 points at the three-minute mark on Morgan Jahnke's (Fox Lake, IL/Grant Community) jumper in the lane. Jahnke's two free throws at 1:26 then made the score 66-56. Kelty's layup momentarily restored order for UIS, but Miranda Rogers (Cypress, TX/Houston Christian) hit a three from the left wing to bring the Cougars within 68-59, the first time since the first half that CUC had been within single digits. The Cougars then inched closer following a turnover as Kassy Koehler (Belvidere, IL/Rockford Lutheran) treyed from the corner and, suddenly, the home team was within six points as the volume of crowd noise inside Geiseman Gym increased significantly. The Prairie Stars pushed the lead back to eight on two free throws, but a three by Jahnke kept hopes alive. However, a UIS free throw made the score 71-65. The Cougars missed a final three, and the visitors corraled the rebound and ran out the clock.
Concordia-Chicago head coach Rusty Rogers was encouraged by the team's comeback despite finishing with just a 33 percent shooting night (23-70). "Our team's success is going to depend on our defense, and I was certainy happy that we were able to force 27 turnovers," said Rogers. "But that being said, it was disheartening that we couldn't take advantage by hitting our shots. We took 13 more shots than they did, and I thought that we had some good looks at the baskets. Unfortunately, nothing was falling until late, and we just dug ourselves too big a hole. But I'm proud that we kept fighting until the very end and made a great run."
DeJean led the Cougars (1-1) with 16 points on 6-12 from the field, 4-6 from the line. Jahnke followed with 13 points, and Lofink scored 12 points (4-5 from the field) to go with three assists and a team-leading six steals. Kelty led the Prairie Stars (1-1) with 21 points and 10 rebounds.
The Cougars return to action next Tuesday, Nov. 25 when they open Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference play at home against Concordia University Wisconsin.
