Feb. 25, 2015 - From the opening 38-point rout of the season opener against Lawrence University to last Saturday's exciting first-round Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference tournament win at Concordia University Wisconsin, the 2014-15 women's basketball season has provided several exciting and special times for the Concordia University Chicago Cougars. The CUC women (16-10, 12-8 NACC) will look to add yet another chapter to this year's story when they travel to Wisconsin Lutheran College in Milwaukee for a second-round NACC tournament game this evening. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. at the Recreation Complex on WLC's campus.

There are no mysteries as to the challenge that the Cougars will face this evening. Wisconsin Lutheran (21-4) repeated as NACC champions with an 18-2 conference record. They defeated #8-seeded Aurora University 71-48 on Saturday behind 37 points and 14 rebounds from their 6'3" center Kristen Schulz. The Warriors start four seniors, and they are dangerous from inside and outside; Wisconsin Lutheran currently leads NCAA Division III in field goal percentage (.495) and three-point percentage (.442), the latter provided largely by Karisa Pedersen and WLC's lone non-senior starter Caitlin Knueppel.

While CUC has lost both games to WLC this season (89-68 on Jan. 14 at home, 83-57 on Feb. 7 at WLC), the Cougars are going into this game with more than a little confidence. Last Saturday's game at Concordia Wisconsin saw the Cougars fight an uphill battle from the opening tip. A cold-shooting first half and early foul trouble to starters Jaela DeJean (Houston, TX/Houston Christian) and Courtney Lofink (Orange, CA/Orange Lutheran) saw the Cougars looking up at a 10-point deficit at halftime. But the Cougars revived early in the second half as Morgan Jahnke (Fox Lake, IL/Grant Community) led an 11-1 run that tied the game at the 16:28 mark. Finally, the Cougars' depth wore down the Falcons in the stretch as Jahnke, Lauren Orr (O'Fallon, MO/Lutheran St. Charles) and Shania Kiser (Fremont, OH/Fremont Ross) all hit some big shots and made some clutch plays. The Cougars outscored CUW 12-2 in the final minutes to finish with a 65-58 win and passage to tonight's second-round semifinal.

The win over CUW - coincidentally, the last team to defeat WLC (59-50 on Jan. 28) - delivered a huge boost of adrenalin to a Cougar team whose confidence has been growing with each victory. According to first-year head coach Rusty Rogers, "Saturday's second half was a good example of how far we have come this season in the mental aspects of the game. We were confident at halftime despite trailing by 10 that the game was not over; we just had to execute better in the second half, and we did. We've had a lot of people step up when they've had to, as in Saturday's game where three of our players foul out. We were able to pick them up and find a way to get the job done."

Rogers states that "our confidence and enthusiasm are as high as they've been all season," and yet he and his players realize the challenge that they have facing them tonight. While fans will have to wait until game time to see what tactics the Cougars might employ against the Warriors, expect CUC to come into the Recreation Complex ready for a battle. "We know this will take our best game of the season, but our players believe that we have that in us," says Rogers. "We're excited to have this opportunity tonight and see if our program can take another step forward."