River Forest, Ill. — Concordia Chicago women's basketball is back in action on Friday for their first contest in nearly two weeks. The Cougars (0-3) will welcome the Rockford Regents (0-2) to Geiseman Gymnasium for a pair of games to kick-off conference play. 

In the time since their Jan. 30 game against Lakeland, the Cougars had the opportunity to dissect what they've done well thus far and figure out where there is room for improvement. Head Coach Lauren Martin believes her team took the necessary measures heading into the meat of their schedule. 

"We recently finished our tuneup to start 2021, which included playing three non-conferences games that provided us with game experience and growth," Martin said. "Now, finally, it's conference season. We couldn't be more excited to put everything together and get after it this Friday and Saturday against Rockford while defending our home court."

There were a lot of positive signs in the final game before the pause in action for CUC, including the return of sophomore guard Bailey Steinkamp (Cary, Ill.). She scored 14 in her season debut, and the Cougars will look to her and fellow sophomore guard Tara Hastings (New Lenox, Ill.) to continue carrying the workload on the offensive side of the ball.

The conference schedule format will feature back-to-back matchups on Friday and Saturday, which will allow CUC to use their depth to their advantage. Twelve different Cougars clocked minutes in the game against Lakeland, earning them an 18-14 advantage in bench points. Sophomore newcomer Mikalah Ellis (Chicago, Ill.) scored half of those 18 in just 13 minutes of action. The youth on the Cougars roster will provide chances for growth and development as conference play progresses. 

Friday's contest is set to tip at 7 p.m. and will be available on the CUC Athletic's Youtube channel. Saturday's game will begin at 5 p.m. with a stream available at the link above.