River Forest, Ill. – After more than a two-week layoff, the Concordia University Chicago women's basketball team returned to the floor on Tuesday afternoon to take on Beloit College at Geiseman Gymnasium. The short-handed Cougars battled for 40 minutes, but ultimately fell by a final score of 76-66. 

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• In her first game in nearly two years, junior Madelyn McGrath (Oak Lawn, Ill.) led all scorers with 23 points. She was on fire from deep, shooting 5-7 from three-point range. She also tied for a team-high with five assists and a pair of steals. 

• Alisyn MacGregor (Loves Park, Ill.) continued her impressive freshman campaign, earning a double-double with 14 points and a team-high 14 boards. 

• Sophomore Nazuri Whigham (Naperville, Ill.) tied for a team-high in assists with five and added eight points. 

It was a slow start for the Cougars, who shot just 3-13 from the floor in the first quarter and fell behind 19-7 at the game's first break. 

Things improved for CUC in the second quarter, shooting 2-3 from beyond the arc and taking advantage of their trips to the charity stripe where they were 7-8. Offensive boards allowed the team to score seven second chance points and they trimmed the Buccaneers' lead to just nine entering the break. 

The third quarter was the best of the night as the Cougars out-scored Beloit 23-14 to pull even at 47 entering the fourth. The CUC bench exploded for 12 points in the third after being held scoreless in the first 20 minutes and the team continued to shoot the ball better, going 8-14 from the floor and 3-5 from deep. 

The Cougars did tie the game five different times in the third and even took the lead on two occasions. It was sophomore Emily Balaban (Manitowoc, Wis.) who gave the Cougars the lead both times, thanks to knocking down a pair of free throws on consecutive possessions. 

Despite shooting 4-8 from deep in the fourth, the Cougars were just 6-14 from the floor and 3-9 from the free throw line. The Buccaneers were able to string together just enough offense to give them the 10-point victory. 

This was the final game of 2021 for the Cougars. They'll be back in action next Sunday, Jan. 2, when they head over to the South side for a rescheduled matchup against IIT. Tip-off is scheduled for 3 p.m. and a stream will be available on cucougars.com/coverage.