Jan. 10, 2015 - Very few teams have found a way to slow down the scoring machine of the Concordia University Chicago women's basketball team at home this season. The Cougars have averaged 79 points in their eight games at Geiseman Gymnasium and, this afternoon, they riddled the Edgewood College Eagles for a season-high in points en route to a 96-80 victory.
Back on Dec. 6, the Cougars lost to the Eagles in Wisconsin while scoring just 58 points, their second lowest output of the season. Concordia-Chicago made sure there would be no repeat today as they shot a torrid 60 percent in the first half and put up 48 points. As was the case last Saturday versus MSOE, the Cougars scored the first nine points of the game. The Eagles scored their first point at 17:04 and their first field goal at 16:07, but the Cougars kept going. Lauren Orr (O'Fallon, MO/Lutheran St. Charles) and Miranda Rogers (Cypress, TX/Houston Christian) canned the Cougars' first threes of the day, and Jaela DeJean (Houston, TX/Houston Christian) hit a pair of free throws to give CUC a early 19-7 lead. The Cougars would stretch their lead to as much as 18 points, but the Eagles fought their way to a more manageable nine-point deficit at the half. The visitors hit on just 11 of 34 shots from the field but offset some of that with 10 offensive rebounds. Edgewood also did a good job of getting to the free-throw line as they hit on 14 of 18. Mariah Hill played a strong first half with 12 points, and her jumper just ahead of the buzzer made the halftime score CUC 48, EC 39.
Edgewood threatened at the start of the second half by scoring the first five points. However, Courtney Lofink (Orange, CA/Orange Lutheran) came to the rescue with consecutive three-pointers; the freshman has now made good on 18 of her 27 three-point shots on the Geiseman floor this season. The three-ball continued to be one of CUC's most effective weapons as Rogers later added her fourth of the game for a 63-48 lead. However, the Cougars' biggest weapon in the second half was their accuracy at the free throw line. While the Eagles closed to within nine points on two separate occasions, the Cougars' 23-26 shooting would prevent the visitors from any sustained push. DeJean made good on 9-10 while Morgan Jahnke (Fox Lake, IL/Grant Community) was perfect on her eight attempts. DeJean led all scorers with 28 points, hitting 7-12 from the field and 14-17 from the line while also handing out five assists. Jahnke finished with 15 points, and Lofink added 14. Lofink went 5-5 from the field including both threes and added seven assists and four steals. Orr and Rogers scored 12 points each while Angelik Young (Crete, IL/Crete-Monee) made it six players in double digits as she scored 11. Kassy Koehler (Belvidere, IL/Rockford Lutheran) commanded the glass in pulling down a team-leading 10 rebounds. Hill led Edgewood (6-9, 5-5 NACC) with 20 points, eight rebounds and five assists. Courtney Spangler followed with 14 points and eight rebounds. Also in double figures were Jazmin Little with 12 and Rachel Pope with 11.
The Cougars (9-5, 7-4 NACC) will host pre-season conference favorite Wisconsin Lutheran College on Wednesday at 7:00.
