Jan. 31, 2015 - Pressuring defense and a fast-paced offense have been trademarks of the Concordia-Chicago women's basketball team. Today, the Cougars' overall quickness was in the spotlight as they relentlessly attacked the basket in their game against Concordia University Ann Arbor. The Cougars won the third-place game of the 64th annual Concordia Invitational Tournament by a 91-78 score and improved to 12-8 on the sesaon.
The Cougars fell behind in the early going 5-2 but stunned the hosts with a quick eight-point blitz. Morgan Jahnke (Fox Lake, IL/Grant Community) drained the Cougars' first three of the day to tie the score. Courtney Lofink (Orange, CA/Orange Lutheran) then stole the inbounds and had a short path to the basket for a layup. The Cardinals brought the ball downcourt, but Lofink purloined another pass, drove to the basket and hit a layup while being fouled. The free throw was good as CUC's quick 29-second burst was good for a 10-5 lead. Ann Arbor fought back as Leah Charrette came off the bench to hit consecutive threes, giving the hosts a brief 14-12 lead, But the Cougars soon reclaimed the lead as Kassy Koehler (Belvidere, IL/Rockford Lutheran) and Divinity Stephens (Flossmoor, IL/Homewood-Flossmoor) scored on runouts for a 16-14 lead, one they would not relinquish, As the half progressed, CUC continued its torrid pace and scored several baskets in transition. They finished the half with 18 points off of Ann Arbor turnovers and 20 points inside, many resulting from the fast breaks. The Cardinals remained in the hunt with some bench scoring and oulled within one at 30-29 on Charrette's two free throws, However, the Cougars scored the final six points of the half on Koehler's baseline jumper and layups by Angelik Young (Crete, IL/Crete-Monee) and Jaela DeJean (Houston, TX/Houston Christian) for a 36-29 lead. Defense got the Cougars off to a quick start in the first minute of the second half. Two steals led to four fast points, but the Cougars did not stop there. A 15-point run put the maroon and gold in the driver's seat. The Cougars shredded the Cardinals' interior getting all their field goals on layups with the exception of Lofink's three. Young scored six points during the run, and the Cougars had themselves a 22-point lead before CUAA got on the board for the half at the 16:14 mark. The Cardinals did not record their first field goal of the half until the 14:02 mark.
Concordia-Chicago still led 62-40 at the 10-minute mark when Miranda Rogers (Cypress, TX/Houston Christian) popped in a three. But the home team rallied as they started up again with their outside shooting. Lauren Featherston connected twice, the second pulling the Cardinals within 11 points with 1:54 left. The final few minutes were slowed to a crawl as the hosts fouled constantly, looking to get possessions and sustain a comeback. However, the Cougars scored their final 15 points at the line, and time finally ran out on the home team as the Cougar women celebrated their first CIT victory in five years. Lofink claimed game-high scoring honors with 22 points including 13 of 17 from the charity stripe. The freshman also handed out a career-high nine assists and recorded five more steals. Jahnke scored 19 points to go with seven rebounds, three assists and steals. Young posted a double-double of 10 points and 11 rebounds while adding a season-high six assists.
The Cougars will now prepare for the final few weeks of Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference play. Next up is a Tuesday night game at Benedictine University in Lisle.
