Dec. 16, 2014 - The Concordia-Chicago women's basketball team returned to Geiseman Gymnasium this evening to host Benedictine University in Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference play. The Eagles came to town having won their last four NACC games to sit on top of the conference. The Cougars made a valiant bid to unseat the Eagles, but Benedictine took advantage of some second-chance opportunities in the second half to hold off CUC by a final score of 69-61.
The Cougars got off to a slow shooting start as Jaele DeJean's (Houston, TX/Houston Christian) jumper in the lane was the only one of the first eight shots to go through the net. Meghan Novak canned a three to give the visitors the early lead, and Nicole Botich began a big evening with the first four of her 19 points to give Benedictine a 7-2 lead.
Eventually, the home team began to find the shooting range as Lauren Orr (O'Fallon, MO/Lutheran St. Charles) and Morgan Jahnke (Fox Lake, IL/Grant Community) drained threes. However, the Eagles powered inside for a series of layups and took a 20-12 lead at the 8:06 mark of the half. Concordia-Chicago made a move to get back into the game with an 8-2 run, all eight points coming courtesy of Courtney Lofink (Orange, CA/Orange Lutheran). The freshman hit a three, and followed with a steal and layup. Lofink then hit from downtown again, and suddenly the Cougars were within 22-20. However, a three by Novak and a three-point play by Botich helped the Eagles regain the momentum, and Benedictine opened the lead back up to nine points, 37-28 at the half. The Cougars stayed within reach in the early minutes of the second half until making their boldest move near the midway point. The defensive pressure began to force some turnovers from the Eagles, and Miranda Rogers (Cypress, TX/Houston Christian) turned up the heat on the offensive end by hitting a pair of threes. Shania Kiser (Fremont, OH/Fremont Ross) chipped in with a drive to the basket that resulted in a three-point play and brought the Cougars within one. Moments later, Angelik Young (Crete, IL/Crete-Monee) converted a three-point play that gave CUC its first lead of the night, 52-49 with 7:13 remaining. The lead lasted only briefly as DeKayla Crayton hit a layup to make it a one-point game. Then, following a turnover, Shannon Ryan restored the lead to the visitors as she banked in a three from the top of the key with the shot clock expiring.
Looking to stay close, the Cougars' defense battled fiercely over the next few minutes and forced the Eagles into some missed shots. But the Eagles' offensive rebounding made the difference in this stretch as they captured six rebounds off of their own misses, highlighted by a Crayton three-point play off a second chance. A jumper by Botich capped an 11-0 run that gave Benedictine a 60-52 lead with just 3:30 left to play.
A final CUC rally came via two free throws by Jahnke and a DeJean layup off a steal as Concordia-Chicago crept to witin 62-61. But Michelle Batty hit a key jumper at the 51-second mark, and Novak scored Benedictine's final five points at the free-throw line to close out a hard-fought struggle.
Botich and Novak tied for game-high scoring honors with 19 points each to lead the Eagles (5-5, 5-0 NACC) while Crayton added 13 off the bench. Botich pulled down 11 rebounds and Crayton seven as Benedictine won the battle of the boards by a 47-30 margin.
Lofink scored 13 points and made three steals to pace the Cougars (4-4, 3-3 NACC). DeJean added 10 points, and Orr and Rogers scored nine each.
Concordia-Chicago returns to action on Thursday night when they travel to Sheboygan to play Lakeland College. The Cougars will be looking to complete a season sweep of the Muskies.
