River Forest, Ill. -- In a difficult matchup at home, the Concordia University Chicago women's basketball team (6-12, 5-8 NACC) fell to Lakeland University (10-9, 6-6 NACC) 61-46.
Inside the Box
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Sydney Lloyd (Grand Forks, N.D.) led the Cougars with 12 points, eight rebounds, and one steal.
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Mikalah Ellis (Chicago, Ill.) followed behind with 11 points, nine rebounds, and one steal.
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 Ava Gardner (Park Ridge, Ill.), Alisyn MacGregor (Loves Park, Ill.) Bailey Steinkamp (Cary, Ill.), Prentciss Gates (Gary, Ind.), and Mackenzie Straulin (Johnsburg, Ill.) combined for the other 23 points.
After going up 1-0 early in the game off of a Gardner free throw, the Cougars struggled to get things to fall. Going on a five minute and 28 second dry scoring streak, they were finally able to start climbing back after layups from MacGregor and Ellis brought the score within five. Another jumper from Gardner would close out their scoring for the first quarter, leaving the Cougars to trail by ten (17-7).
Struggling to keep the Muskies out of the paint, the Cougars allowed six points from inside the lane, matching the total number of points they had for the quarter.Â
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In their best quarter of the game, the Cougars came out with intensity and grit as they outscored the Muskies 19-14. Lloyd kicked things into high gear as ten of her 12 points came from the third quarter. Hitting four clutch shots in a row for the Cougars, Lloyd gave them a needed spark to push through.
Despite fierce efforts, the Cougars couldn't pull out of their first half deficits. They ended the night shooting 27% overall while sitting at 40% from the charity stripe.
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Fighting through conference play, the Cougars head to Milwaukee on Saturday to take on MSOE at 2pm. Coverage can be found at cucougars.com/coverage.Â
