Dec. 13, 2014 - So far this season, good starts have been a hallmark of the Concordia-Chicago women's basketball team. Today's game at Marian University was a complete reversal of that trend as the Cougars fell into an enormous hole and never recovered. The Sabres won 80-52 to improve to a 7-0 start on the season while the Cougars fell to 4-3 (3-2 in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference).
Marian led from the start as Brittany Bauman's three just 15 seconds after the opening tip began the avalanche. The Sabres led 9-0 before the Cougars got on the board at the 15:53 mark as Angelik Young (Crete, IL/Crete-Monee) was fouled and split a pair of free throws. The home team's momentum was interrupted only temporarily. The Sabres scored the next 17 points before the Cougars' Miranda Rogers (Cypress, TX/Houston Christian) nailed a three. Concordia-Chicago gathered a bit of offensive rhythm in the final minutes of the half as Courtney Lofink (Orange, CA/Orange Lutheran) connected on a two and a three. However, the Cougars went in at half looking up at a 47-14 deficit. The Cougars finished the half shooting just 5-31 while the Sabres went 15-33. Turnovers also played a big factor as CUC was guilty of 18 compared to Marian's 10.
Concordia-Chicago came back in the second half to shoot an improved 15-36, piling up most of their points inside the paint. CUC's defense held Marian to 7-29 shooting after halftime although the Sabres outscored the Cougars 16-7 from the free throw line.
Jaela DeJean (Houston, TX/Houston Christian) and Young scored 10 points each to lead the Cougars. Young pulled down nine rebounds and Shania Kiser (Fremont, OH/Fremont Ross) eight as the Cougars captured the rebound battle 52-45. The Cougars return home to host Benedictine University Tuesday night at 7:00. the first of a busy three-game week.
