Dec. 18, 2014 - The Concordia-Chicago women's basketball team had to put in a clutch effort down the stretch in order to seize their first road win of the season. But freshman Jaela DeJean (Houston, TX/Houston Christian) took charge in the final minutes, and her short jumper with 2.8 seconds left lifted the Cougars to a 75-73 win at Lakeland College. The Cougars' shooting was ice-cold in the first few minutes as the Muskies jumped to an 8-0 lead. Concordia-Chicago misfired on its first nine shots before DeJean's driving layup got CUC on the board at the 16:45 mark. DeJean stayed hot as she scored the Cougars' first six points. Later on, Miranda Rogers (Cypress, TX/Houston Christian) drained the Cougars' first three of the game as they closed within 12-9. Rogers hit on another rainbow, and DeJean got inside for another layup as the Cougars crept to within two points of the Muskies. The home team responded with a five-point run, but Courtney Lofink (Orange, CA/Orange Lutheran) ended the run with a three-point play. The visitors kept coming and finally took a 30-29 lead at the 3:50 mark as Lauren Orr (O'Fallon, MO/Lutheran St. Charles) knocked down a three from the top of the key. Lakeland regained the lead briefly, but Morgan Jahnke (Fox Lake, IL/Grant Community) stepped up and took over for the final 90 seconds of the half. Her three-point play at 1:27 put CUC back in the lead at 37-36. Jahnke then hit a long three at 1:06 and closed the half with a jumper in the lane to send Concordia-Chicago to the locker room with a 42-36 lead. The early minutes of the second half saw the Muskies on the attack, and they fought back to within two points, but Lofink ensured that CUC remained in the lead as she connected from downtown. The Cougars continued to repel the Muskies' challenges as Kassy Koehler (Belvidere, IL/Rockford Lutheran) and Jahnke came up with big buckets when the home team was on the verge of tying the game. However, the Muskies eventually put a couple of scoring possessions together led by freshman forward C.J. Usadel and caught the Cougars at 62-62 at the nine minute mark. The Cougars regrouped soon afterwards as DeJean's layup and 12-foot jumper put CUC back in the lead at 67-66. The lead exchanged hands before Jahnke's short jumper knotted the game again at 71-71. CUC then got a stop before DeJean was fouled going to the basket. DeJean missed both free throws, but Lofink snared the rebound, and the Cougars called timeout with 22.4 seconds left to set up a play.
DeJean would get the ball with about 10 seconds left up high. She worked her way into the lane on a slight angle from the left and hit a short 12-foot banker for the lead. Lakeland had no timeouts left and could only get a desperation heave from behind halfcourt which fell way short, and the Cougars celebrated their first road victory in three tries.
DeJean's game-winner gave her game-high scoring honors as well with 22 points (8-16 FG, 6-8 FT). Jahnke finished with a season-high 21 on 8-12 FG (1-3 3FG) and 4-5 from the line while also adding nine rebounds which tied her for game-high honors. CUC shot 26-67 from the field (5-20 on threes) and 18-24 from the charity stripe. The Cougars won the battle of the boards 39-37 and finished plus-nine in turnovers, forcing 27 while committing just 18.
Bailey Grayvold led the Muskies (2-6, 2-4 NACC) with 15 points, followed by Rachel Stankievich with 14 and Kayla Clark with 13. Lakeland shot 27-57 from the field (6-22 from downtown) and made good on all 13 of their free throws.
The Cougars (5-4, 4-3 NACC) will close out their pre-Christmas schedule and a busy three-game week when they play at Rockford University on Saturday afternoon.
