Box Score Jan. 11, 2017 –One of the quotes attributed to the late Yogi Berra was, "Déjà vu all over again." Berra's famous "Yogi-ism" would be appropriate in describing the Concordia-Chicago women's basketball team this evening. Winners of four straight Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference games, the Cougars faced a significant challenge in the Eagles of Benedictine University, 11-2 overall and 7-1 in conference play. But, thanks to a sudden stream of three-point baskets similar to the team's win over Marian University in their last game, CUC took control of the game late in the third quarter and went on to defeat Benedictine by a final score of 70-52 at the Rice Center in Lisle.
The Eagles grabbed an early 4-0 lead, but
Taylor Jacobsen picked up where she left off the previous two games by hitting a quick four for the first of five first-quarter ties. From that point, neither team would lead by more than two, as the first quarter ended tied 12-12.
In the second, the Cougars fell behind by three before rallying to take a lead.
Courtney Lofink scored with a layup and two free throws and then stole the ball, feeding a streaking
Crystal Corr for a layup and a 24-21 lead. However, the Eagles answered behind guard Roxanna Gaddis. Her three began a 7-0 countering run. A jumper by
Erin Jacobsen ended the run, and
Sarah Smith tied the game moments later with a layup. But Gaddis hit her third three of the quarter in the final minute to give the hosts a 31-28 halftime lead.
Unusually for the Cougars, they went without a three for the entire half, misfiring on all nine attempts. They compensated with strong drives to the basket for many of their 11 first-half field goals. However, that began to change as
Lauren Orr canned the team's first trey 90 seconds into the third quarter. Another three by Orr two minutes later kept the Cougars on the Eagles' tail feathers until, finally, E. Jacobsen's three knotted the game. T. Jacobsen's triple at the 2:12 mark put CUC in the lead to stay at 42-39. The Cougars' final two possessions of the quarter resulted in threes by Orr and
Annika Rae, and a stunned Eagles' team was facing a 50-42 deficit heading into the final 10 minutes. Concordia-Chicago finished the quarter with 6-9 shooting from the outside.
The long-distance strikes kept coming for CUC as the fourth quarter began, with two by T. Jacobsen and one by
Miranda Rogers giving the visitors a 60-45 lead. From there, the Cougars wrapped up the game from the free-throw line, scoring six of their final 10 points CUC shot 3-4 on threes in the final quarter for a second-half total of 9-13 (.692).
With the win, CUC's third straight overall, they improve to 8-5 on the season. Their 7-3 conference mark has them in fifth place, a half-game behind Benedictine and Lakeland who are tied for third with 7-2 records.
T. Jacobsen led the way with 20 points and has averaged 23.3 points over the last three games. Lofink put together an excellent all-around game of 14 points, a season-high 10 rebounds, seven assists and four steals. Orr added 13 points and six rebounds.
The Cougars will look to sweep the season series against the Milwaukee School of Engineering when they travel to the Kern Center in Milwaukee this Saturday.
