Nov. 28, 2015 - Two days after Thanksgiving, the Concordia-Chicago women's basketball team was giving thanks after a strong second-half performance, taking down the Alverno College Inferno 84-78 in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference opener for CUC.

The Cougars won last week's season opener behind 26 steals, and they looked to pick up right where they left off. Alverno controlled the opening tip but subsequently had the ball stolen away by Morgan Jahnke (Fox Lake, IL/Grant Community), and Angelik Young (Crete, IL/Crete-Monee) got the Cougars on the board first off the turnover.  The Alverno three point shooting would heat up early, however, as Julie Gallegos would knock down threes on back-to-back possessions to take the lead. After a two-minute stretch where neither team would be able to find the hoop, freshman Sheyla Kahalehoe (Kahili, HI/Iolani) broke the scoring drought. Kahalehoe scored seven of the Cougars final 11 points in the quarter, which ended with CUC holding a 15-11 lead.

Concordia-Chicago's lead was erased in the first 2 1/2 minutes of the quarter. Jumpers by Brooke McBain and Mollie Mikyska tied the game at 17-17. This began a long stretch of back-and-forth basketball with both teams running their offenses very thoroughly. The Cougars eventually regained the lead and stretched it to four with just over three minutes left in the half as Teaira Miller (Maywood, IL/Glenbard East) and Lauren Orr (O'Fallon, MO/Lutheran St. Charles) sandwiched threes around an Alverno three-pointer. Alverno fought back and finished the first half with a layup by Mikyska that would send both teams to the locker room tied up at 33.

The third quarter would be as hard fought as the first two. CUC grabbed an early lead behind a Young layup. Alverno then went on a 7-0 run capped off by a McBain three giving the Inferno a five-point lead.  Concordia-Chicago answered with a 6-0 run however, as Taylor Jacobsen (Aurora, IL/West Aurora) scored five of the points with a three and a layup. The lead lasted just a short time though, as a couple of Cougar turnovers allowed the Inferno to go back up by six. The Cougars drew within one, but Mackenzie Mathies knocked down a short jumper, giving the Inferno a three-point lead heading to the final quarter.

Quarter four started off with a Young layup, but Mikyska continued to shoot well and keep the Cougars chasing. CUC  started to steal the momentum with 8:10 left. Kahalehoe finished a layup and then stole the ensuing inbounds pass and found Jahnke for a layup to cut the Alverno lead to one. Concordia-Chicago took the lead for good with 6:18 left when Young converted a tough three-point play. Down the stretch, Young and Orr played the key roles in keeping the home team's lead. Orr knocked down multiple threes, and Young battled tough in the paint. The Cougars also hit their free throws late to seal the NACC-opening win.

"It was a great effort" said CUC head coach Rusty Rogers, "It was a coming-out party for Sheyla today; she really started to showcase what she can do. Angelik played fantastic today; she did everything she was asked of as a senior." Rogers would also talk highly about his bench play on the day, as they totaled 39 points.

Young matched her career-high of 21 points (9-17 FG, 3-4 FT) and pulled down a team-high 10 rebounds to lead the Cougars. Orr added 20 points, including 5-9 shooting on three-pointers. Kahalehoe finished with 13 points off the bench on 5-9 shooting. Jahnke finished with 11 points, going 7-8 at the free throw line.

Courtney Lofink finished with just three points but contributed eight assists and three steals. Over the Thanksgiving break, Lofink was ranked as the number three point guard in the nation for all NCAA Division III colleges. The full top five ranking can be viewed at
http://herosports.com/collegebasketball/top-5-point-guards-womens-d3-basketball/?utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=Article&utm_campaign=D3WBB.

The Cougars (2-0, 1-0 NACC) look to continue their strong start to the season with their first road test of the year at Aurora University on Tuesday. That game is set to tip off at 5:15 p.m.