Jan. 20, 2015 - The resilience of the 2014-15 Concordia-Chicago women's basketball team was on full display this evening as CUC battled Alverno College at Reiman Gymnasium in Milwaukee. The Cougars battled many obstacles tonight and trailed for much of the game, but a 17-7 run in the final three minutes of the game enabled the maroon and gold to emerge victorious by a final score of 95-89.
 
Two baskets by Morgan Jahnke (Fox Lake, IL/Grant Community) gave CUC a quick 4-0 lead, but Alverno ran off nine straight points aided by a couple of CUC turnovers. Lauren Orr's (O'Fallon, MO/Lutheran St. Charles) three from the right corner ended the draught, but Alverno kept the lead for a stretch thanks to a couple of threes from Julie Gallegos.
 
Kassy Koehler (Belvidere, IL/Rockford Lutheran) got the Cougars rolling midway through the half as she hit on a three from the right corner followed by one from the left. Moments later, Angelik Young (Crete, IL/Crete-Monee) rebounded a miss and scored on the putback to give CUC the lead at 26-25.
 
The Cougars led 36-32 after a three by Miranda Rogers (Cypress, TX/Houston Christian), but the Inferno erupted for a 12-0 run fueled by two threes. Divinity Stephens (Flossmoor, IL/Homewood-Flossmoor) put the Cougars back on track with a three from the right corner, and a nice hustle play by Taylor Jacobsen (Aurora, IL/West Aurora) earned her two points on a putback. The teams traded two threes with Rogers netting the last one of the half, and the Cougars went in after 20 minutes, trailing 49-44.
 
Both teams finished the half shooting 8-18 from three-point range. The Cougars actually had two more field goals, but the Inferno cashed in on free throws, going 11-13 to CUC's 2-2.
 
Courtney Lofink (Orange, CA/Orange Lutheran) began the second half with a three, and the Cougars were right back in the chase. However, the Inferno remained in the lead for a long stretch with Julie Gallegos and Tessa Mersberger pumping in threes.
 
Trailing 82-78, the Cougars began their charge at the 2:47 mark when Rogers buried her fifth triple of the night. Following an Alverno miss, CUC then took the lead at 2:15 when DeJean banked in a 10-footer from the right side. The defense then forced a turnover, and Koehler gave the Cougars a four-point lead as she hit her third three. Lofink then struck twice over the over the next 20 seconds with two steals leading to layups, and CUC led 90-82 with 50 seconds left. The Inferno looked to rally, but the Cougars closed out the game with free throws by Lofink and DeJean.
 
"Our team just never quits," said CUC head coach Rusty Rogers. "Our girls showed a tremendous amount of heart and kept working and, as a result, we were able to steal this one. If this game had gone the other way, we would have been in a sad position in the playoff race, so that's why this win was so important for us." 
 
DeJean led the winning effort with 21 points, 13 in the second half. She was followed by Jahnke who turned in a great all-around effort of 16 points, eight rebounds, six assists and three steals. Rogers scored 15 on 5-10 three-point shooting. Koehler tallied 11 points (3-6 threes) and seven rebounds, and Lofink scored 10 points to go with five assists and six steals. Coach Rogers also cited the defensive effort of Hailey Lindblom (Minneapolis, MN/Richfield) who had three rebounds, a key steal and a couple of big hustle plays.
 
The Cougars finished with 44 percent shooting on 36-81 from the field and were 41 percent (12-29) on threes. The key stat for the game was CUC handing out 22 assists while turning the ball over just 11 times.
 
Concordia-Chicago (10-7, 8-6 NACC) will enjoy some time off before resuming play next Wednesday, Jan. 28 when they host Rockford University.