Fond du Lac, Wis. – After making the NACC playoffs the last two seasons, the Concordia University Chicago Women's Basketball team made their 2018-19 debut tonight on the road at Marian University. After a slow start, the Cougars caught fire in the second quarter with a 24-6 run to open the game up. CUC then cruised from there, defeating Marian for an eighth straight time by a final score of 68-42.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:
- Sam Bloom led the team with 20 points in her CUC debut. She shot 8-12 from the floor including 3-5 from deep. She also had four steals on the night.
- In total seven newcomers made their first appearance for the Cougar
- The win was the first for Lauren Rosengarden as head coach at CUC
- Annika Rae finished with 12 points on the night including a perfect 4-4 night from the charity stripe. She also had a team high six rebounds.
- After shooting just 1-10 from three in the first quarter, CUC shot 8-17 in quarters two and three.
- CUC helped to force 31 Marian turnovers on the night, the most since the season opener against Blackburn last season.
- 15 different Cougars played on the night.
Things started off slow for the Cougars in the first quarter. Marian opened up an 8-2 lead through the first four minutes. CUC got things going with a Rae three to pull within three.
Deja Southall then pulled CUC within one, and Bloom finished off a fastbreak layup to give the Cougars the lead. Marian was able to get one late basket in the quarter to tie the score at ten after the first period.
The Cougars got hot in the second quarter. With the score tied at 12, CUC ripped off an 11-0 run.
McKayla Tilton started things off with a three,
Crystal Corr then converted a Bloom steal to continue the run. Tilton and
Jada Dixon then both hit threes to make it 23-12 Cougars.
Bloom then closed out the quarter by hitting two threes and then converting a steal into a layup before the buzzer to give CUC a 34-16 lead at the half.
Coming out of the break,
Kayla Horlacher kept the momentum rolling with a three off the right wing. Rae and Bloom continued their strong opening night performances as they built the lead to 46-18 midway through the third. Rae, Bloom and Corr provided the offense throughout the remainder of the quarter to give CUC a 54-26 lead after three.
Corr quickly made it a 30 point Cougar advantage to start the fourth as she brought down a rebound and went coast-to-coast for the layup. Horlacher kept the CUC lead at 30 by knocking down her second three of the day with 7:15 remaining. The Cougars cruised from there, giving coach Rosengarden her first win as the head coach of the Cougars by a 68-42 final score.
