Feb. 21, 2015 - The Concordia-Chicago Cougars have had some memorable meetings with Concordia University Wisconsin in all sports over the years, but Saturday night's first round Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference women's basketball game will go down as one of the best from the maroon and gold perspective. The Cougars trailed by 10 at halftime but came through with a fantastic final 20 minutes and defeated the Falcons at the R. John Buuck Fieldhouse by a final score of 65-58.

First-year head coach Rusty Rogers' storied history has included a pair of national championships, but he described tonight's victory as having a special place in his memory. Despite seeing three players foul out and the entire team battling adversity all night, "I told our players after the game that I have never been so proud of a team than what this team accomplished tonight. This win was a true team effort."

The Cougars fell behind 8-3 after Maddy Landgraf hit a pair of threes for the Falcons. However, CUC fought back as the defense began to force some turnovers. Steals by Haley Lindblom (Minneapolis, MN/Richfield) and Jaela DeJean (Houston, TX/Houston Christian) led to two fastbreak scores with Divinity Stephens' (Flossmoor, IL/Homewood-Flossmoor) putback giving the visitors an 11-8 lead.

Concordia-Chicago then went cold for a spell, and Concordia Wisconsin took advantage by reeling off the next seven points. Morgan Jahnke's (Fox Lake, IL/Grant Community) layup finally ended the dry spell after 4 1/2 minutes, but it took until the 5:47 mark for CUC to even the score 19-19 on Jahnke's three.

The two teams traded baskets before the Falcons hit the Cougars with an 11-1 run to close the half. Landgraf hit from afar for her third triple of the half, and Samantha Blissett beat the buzzer by scoring on a putback to put the Cougars in a 32-22 hole after 20 minutes.

Rebounds and turnovers were virtually even in the half, but the Falcons' advantage resided in the shooting. The Cougars shot just 7-29 from the field (3-11 from threes) while the Falcons were 13-29 (3-10 threes). Leading scorers for the half were Jahnke with eight and Landgraf with 12.

Despite the 10-point deficit, Coach Rogers kept the team's outlook upbeat. "I felt that we were in a good position, considering that two of our starting guards - DeJean and Courtney Lofink (Orange, CA/Orange Lutheran) - had a grand total of 11 or 12 minutes played and just a small handful of points. We had kept the game close until the final few minutes, but our defense was playing well. I felt that if our offense could stay aggressive and create some fouls on CUW, we could do better."

Rogers' statement proved prophetic as the Cougars opened the second half with a bang. It took just 3 1/2 minutes to change the complexion of the contest as Jahnke led the way to an 11-1 run. Jahnke scored five quick points, and DeJean and Shania Kiser (Fremont, OH/Fremont Ross) added scores. CUW's Megan Coenen stopped the charge momentarily by splitting a pair of free throws, but Angelik Young (Crete, IL/Crete-Monee) banked in a short jumper off a great feed from Lindblom, and the game was knotted 33-33 at the 16:28 mark.

Concordia Wisconsin came back to take a 38-35 lead, losing DeJean to fouls along the way, but CUC retaliated with another 9-0 run.A three by Lauren Orr (O'Fallon, MO/Lutheran St. Charles) gave the Cougars a 41-38 lead. The Falcons then missed the front end of a one-and-one, and Kiser converted a three-point play on the other end to give CUC its biggest lead of the night at 44-38.

The lead was short-lived as Landgraf led an 8-0 answering run. Landgraf continued to pester the Cougars as her three-point play later gave CUW a 51-47 lead. The Cougars charged back once again with Orr's layup knotting the game at 53-53, but Corrina Terrano hit a long three to give the Falcons a 56-53 lead with 3:51 remaining.

Terrano's three would be CUW's final field goal of the game as the Cougars locked it down and outperformed the Falcons down the stretch. "All season long, we've played 10 or 11 players regularly in different roles," said Rogers. "Those players showed how much they've learned from those experiences, and they were ready to step up tonight and handle the pressure when we needed it the most."

Jahnke started the final push with a patented step-back jumper in the lane to make it a one-point game. The Cougars then made two defensive stands before Lofink found Orr on the left wing for the three that put CUC in the lead for good with 2:30 remaining.

Three more defensive stops ensued as the clock ticked under a minute. On the third stop, Jahnke rebounded Landgraf's miss, and the Cougars were off and running. Kassy Koehler (Belvidere, IL/Rockford Lutheran) and Orr worked a great two-on-one with Koehler feeding Orr for the layup that gave the Cougars a 60-56 lead with just 46 ticks left.

Although the Cougars would lose Lofink and Lindblom to fouls in the final minute, the Falcons were unable to capitalize as they missed four charity tosses down the stretch. Conversely, the Cougars would ice the game as they stepped up to the line with Kiser, Lofink and Jahnke sealing the deal and booking CUC's passage to the second round.

The Cougars' defense held the Falcons to just 8-29 shooting (28 percent) in the second half including 1-10 three-point accuracy. Meanwhile, CUC shot 13-29 (45 percent) but backed that with 15-19 from the free throw line compared to the Falcons' 9-16.

Jahnke led CUC (16-10) with 22 points (5-8 FG, 1-1 3FG, 11-14 FT) and seven rebounds. Orr tallied 10 points, all in the second half. The Cougars won the battle of the boards 43-40, led by Koehler's nine. Lofink was held to four points but handed out five assists and made two steals.
Landgraf led all scorers with 25 points on 8-19 shooting (3-9 threes) and 6-9 free throws. Coenen also reached double figures with 11 points for Concordia Wisconsin (19-7).

Tonight's win, the Cougars' first in NACC tournament play since 2008, sends CUC into the second round with a game at top-seeded Wisconsin Lutheran College, a 71-48 winner over Aurora University in another quarterfinal game. The Cougars have lost both of their contests to the Warriors this year, most recently on Feb. 7, but Rogers believes that his team is ready for this challenge.

"We know that we have to do something different to stop them, especially when it comes to dealing with (6'3" center) Kristen Schulz," said Rogers. "But we'll look at video and come up with a game plan. It's a huge challenge, but I do know that we are going up there with the idea of coming home with a victory."