Dec. 1, 2015 - Slow starts have plagued the Concordia-Chicago women's basketball team in each of their first three games this season. The Cougars were able to overcome the problem in their first two wins, but such was not the case this evening as they played their first road game at Aurora University's Thornton Gymnasium. The Spartans ambushed the Cougars with a 12-2 start, and CUC trailed from start to finish in a 97-91 contest.
Aurora started out quickly as a pair of threes staked them to a 6-0 lead. Meanwhile, CUC missed its first seven shots and trailed 12-0 before Sheyla Kahalehoe (Kalihi, HI/Iolani) got them on the board with two free throws at the 4:44 mark. Miranda Rogers (Cypress, TX/Houston Christian) added the first field goal at 3:53 with a three, but the Cougars continued ice-cold until the last two minutes when a couple of steals produced a couple of fastbreak buckets by Angelik Young (Crete, IL/Crete-Monee). However, the Cougars still trailed 23-11 after one. Teaira Miller (Maywood, IL/Glenbard East) sparked the Cougars early in the second quarter with a pair of steals and breakaway layups.  The Cougars clawed back to within eight points on a three by
Taylor Jacobsen (Aurora, IL/West Aurora) and a layup by
Courtney Lofink (Orange, CA/Orange Lutheran), but things went south again for the visitors over the final six minutes. Aurora outscored CUC 15-4, and the visitors trailed by 19 at the half, 45-26.
A three by Lofink helped the Cougars start the third with a 7-2 burst, but the Spartans refused to cool off. Dorrington knocked down another three for the home team, and Aurora shot their lead back up to 19 midway through the quarter. Several points in the quarter came from Aurora's inside screens which produced easy layups. However, Lauren Orr (O'Fallon, MO/Lutheran St. Charles) refused to let Aurora run away and hide; the junior forward scored 11 points for the quarter, largely on a trio of three-pointers. However, the quarter resulted in a standoff as Aurora retained a 19-point lead, 71-52. The Cougars mounted a final charge at the five-minute mark of the fourth quarter. Orr and Jacobsen pulled CUC closer with threes, and a steal and basket by Morgan Jahnke (Fox Lake, IL/Grant Community) with 1:58 remaining brought the lead down to 10. Concordia kept coming, scoring 17 points in the final two minutes and 39 for the final quarter, but the Spartans kept them at bay with excellent free-throw shooting. "I was disappointed with our effort in the first half," said CUC head coach Rusty Rogers. "We were much better in the second half and really showed what we're capable of doing, but we can't afford to put ourselves in that position of trailing early. It was bound to catch up with us, and Aurora shot well enough to make us pay for it tonight."  Â
AU freshman Mallory Cast led all scorers with 31 points on 10-18 from the field including a sizzling 6-10 from three-point range, and 5-6 from the line. Dorrington added 23 points (7-12 from the field)Â as Aurora shot 33-61 (54 percent) overall, 10-18 (56 percent) from long range and 21-29 from the line.
For Concordia-Chicago, Jahnke led the way with 18 points and five steals. Orr had 14 points, all in the second half, and Lofink recorded 14 points, nine assists and five steals. Young made it four Cougars in double figures with 11 points.
The Cougars (2-1, 1-1 NACC) will return to action on Saturday afternoon when they host Edgewood College at 4:15. Â
