Dec. 10, 2016 – Today,, the Concordia-Chicago Cougars traveled to Milwaukee, WI to take on the Wisconsin Lutheran Warriors. WLC has won seven out of the last eight Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference championships and were picked to win conference in the NACC pre-season poll this season as well. The Cougars knew going into the game they had to have a better start against a top NACC team but were unable to get off to the hot start they needed, falling to the Warriors 75-56.

Early in the first quarter, the Warriors forced the Cougars to play more their style in the half court compared to the Cougars' fast paced, up and down offense. Much like the CUW game, the bigs for the Wisconsin Lutheran, Jen Dowden and Maddy Elrod provided most of the offense for the Warriors. Per usual, the Cougars Lauren Orr and Taylor Jacobsen were not afraid to shoot the ball for CUC as they had seven of the 13 Cougar points in the first quarter. The Warriors kept feeding the ball into the post, allowing them to jump to a 24-13 lead at the end of the first quarter. 

The second quarter started off well for the Cougars. They went on a quick 5-0 run led by a Crystal Corr layup and an Orr triple to cut the Warriors' lead to six. The Warriors were quick to answer the Cougars run with a 10-0 run themselves to extend their lead to 16 midway through the second quarter. For the rest of the quarter, the Cougars had no answer for WLC's leading scorer, Dowden, as she finished with 18 first-half points that led to a Warriors' 45-25 first half lead.

Dowden led all scorers in the first half with 18 points (7-11) followed by Caitlin Knueppel putting in 11 points (4-7).  The Cougars were led by Orr with nine points (4-13) followed up with Courtney Lofink with five points (2-4).

The third quarter began slowly as both teams came out of halftime sluggish. Wisconsin Lutheran finally got things moving with a quick 7-0 run led by Dowden bodying up Cougars' post players and hitting shots from outside the arc. The Cougars responded with a 9-0 run themselves with an Annika Rae three, but the Cougars still trailed by 18.  The Warriors quickly halted that run by feeding the post and finishing the third quarter with a 61-40 lead.

Quarter number four proved much of the same. Late in the game, the Cougars were able to cut the deficit to 15. Wisconsin Lutheran was able to hold off any major runs CUC tried to make, though. The Warriors played out the rest of the quarter to a 75-56 victory, pushing their record 5-2 overall and a perfect 5-0 in the NACC.

The Cougars' leading scorers were Orr and Lofink both scoring 12 points on 8-28 from the field combined. The Warriors' leading scorer was Dowden, who had a game high 35 points (12-20), four rebounds, and two assists. Knueppel followed that up with 16 points (5-11), three rebounds, and five assists.  Wisconsin Lutheran shot the ball well in the game, shooting 43 percent from the field compared to CUC's 29 percent. 

The Cougars (3-3, 2-3 NACC) return home this Thursday, December 15, as they take on the Spartans of Aurora University.  Tip-off will be at 7 p.m. from Geiseman Gymnasium.