River Forest, Ill.- Looking to build off of a season opening road victory, the Concordia University Chicago Cougar Women's Basketball team (2-0, 1-0 NACC) opened conference play tonight at home versus the Alverno College Inferno (0-2, 0-1 NACC). The Cougars led by nine at half and never looked back, cruising to a 85-64 win in their home opener.
 
"Its nice to get that first conference win," remarked head coach Rusty Rogers. "We have a lot of things to improve on. Two games into the season and winning them both by 20 plus points is saying something. We have a lot of talent at a lot of different positions."
 
Taylor Jacobsen led the way with 27 points on the night on 11-16 shooting. Crystal Corr finished with 13 rebounds and Courtney Lofink finished with nine assists. In total CUC had 11 different players score on the night. As a team, the Cougars shot 39 percent from the floor and 40 percent from three. They limited Alverno to 32 percent shooting while forcing 15 Inferno turnovers.
 
In the first quarter Alverno scored the first baskets of the night before CUC was able to get things clicking offensively. Layups by Jacie Dickerson and T.Jacobsen got things rolling early. A layup by Corr and a three by Sophia Leon gave CUC the lead with just under four minutes remaining in the quarter. The Leon three kicked off a 9-0 CUC run that propelled the Cougars to a 17-14 lead after one quarter.
 
Alverno briefly took the lead back early in the second quarter, but CUC answered back with a Lofink three and a layup by T.Jacobsen on a baseline feed from Lofink. A pair of T.Jacobsen free throws opened up the lead to double digits midway through the quarter forcing a Alverno timeout. CUC extended the lead to 12 on an Annika Rae three. Alverno though was able to cut into the Cougar advantage sending the teams into halftime with CUC leading 41-32.
 
T.Jacobsen had a game high 14 points in the first half while Corr bought down 10 rebounds.
 
CUC came out of the locker room firing off a 9-2 run to begin the third quarter. Baskets by Dickerson, T.Jacobsen and Lofink fueled the run that forced an Alverno timeout. The Cougars continued to click offensively pushing the lead to as many as 18 in the quarter on a Leon three. CUC led 66-49 after three quarters.
 
The Cougars nearly mimicked their start of the third quarter in the fourth with an 8-0 run to start the quarter, all layups via great passing by CUC. Concordia never let Alverno have a chance to get back into the game with Alverno only able to pull within 19 at one point in the quarter. Freshman Kayla Horlacher was able to knock down a three and a pair of free throws in the quarter as head coach Rusty Rogers was able to empty his bench.
 
The Cougars will now have a quick turnaround to get ready for non-conference action tomorrow afternoon. CUC will host the University of Dallas inside Geiseman Gymnasium with opening tip set for 2:00pm.