Jan. 3, 2015 - The Concordia-Chicago women's basketball team wasted no time in getting down to business in today's home game against the Milwaukee School of Engineering. The Cougars scored the first nine points of the game and led by as much as 23 points in the first half in cruising to an 80-67 win. The result extended CUC's winning streak to four games and put them at 6-3 in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference, 8-4 overall.
Freshman Courtney Lofink (Orange, CA/Orange Lutheran) hit from long distance to open the scoring, and it was a fitting start. Lofink would score 18 points to lead the Cougars while going a perfect 4-4 from beyond the arc. Angelik Young (Crete, IL/Crete-Monee), Morgan Jahnke (Fox Lake, IL/Grant Community) and Kassy Koehler (Belvidere, IL/Rockford Lutheran) added to the lead before Marly Trier's basket at the 15:42 mark put MSOE on the board. The Cougars stayed hot in the early going as Shania Kiser (Fremont, OH/Fremont Ross) scored on a three-point play. Lofink and Miranda Rogers (Cypress, TX/Houston Christian) struck with threes from the outside. The Cougars' lead reached its zenith with 8:27 remaining when Lofink's steal and layup made the score CUC 31, MSOE 8. The Raiders looked to the three to try and get back into the hunt. Shaylan Reardon hit two from the outside, and Marisa Gerstbrein and Bre'Ana Strong also made good from downtown. However, the Cougars kept their lead in double digits, and Kiser's layup just before the buzzer put CUC's halftime lead at 47-34.
An 8-0 run by the Cougars began the second half, but the Raiders answered by scoring the next 10 points. That run was interrupted by Jahnke's steal and layup, putting the lead back at 13 (57-44). From that point, the game settled down with MSOE getting only as close as 11 points on two other occasions, the final time coming with just two minutes remaining.
As was the case with a few of CUC's other victories this year, the Cougars' ability to force turnovers contributed largely to this win. The Cougars' pressure forced 24 turnovers, 15 in the first half as they built their big lead. The defense also forced MSOE into shooting just 31 percent from the field on 21-68.
Joining Lofink in double figures were Jaela DeJean (Houston, TX/Houston Christian) with 16 points and Jahnke with 10. Young and Kiser scored nine each, and Kiser chipped in with nine boards and four of CUC's 11 blocks. Reardon led MSOE (9-3, 5-2 NACC) with 22 points and eight rebounds. Megan Kroll scored 16, and Strong added 13 points and 16 rebounds.
Concordia-Chicago (9-4, 6-3 NACC) will travel to Mequon, WI on Tuesday to play the Concordia Wisconsin Falcons. The Cougars defeated CUW 80-68 in the teams' first meeting on Nov. 25.
