With the Concordia Invitational Tournament on the horizon, the Concordia University Chicago women's basketball team (8-9, 7-5) played host to the Rockford Regents (3-15, 2-9) Wednesday night. The Regents defense stood tall, keeping CUC's shooters off the board to take home the win, 66-50.

Inside the Box Score

• Alisyn MacGregor (Loves Park, Ill.) led the team in both points (14) and rebounds (17). Ten of her 14 points came in the second quarter alone.

• Katherine Benes (Oconomowoc, Wis.) scored 13 points in 25 minutes of action in her return to the lineup. The sophomore transfer shot from the free-throw line eight times, converting on seven of those shots.

• Prentciss Gates (Gary, Ind.) dropped 12 points off the bench. This was Gates's second game of the season scoring 10+ points. 

First Quarter

In what was expected to be a defensive battle, neither team disappointed to start. Benes managed to pot two free throws within the first minute, but the first field goal would not come until Tyra Clark of Rockford made a layup with 7:17 left in the first. 

After Clark netted another layup and Benes converted two more free throws, defense prevailed once again, preventing a score for nearly two minutes. Benes would finally score CUC's first field goal at the 4:46 mark.

Back-to-back Regent threes put Rockford up 10-6 before Benes pulled the game back within two with a driving layup. The Regents scored the final five points of the quarter, holding a 15-8 lead heading into the second. 

Second Quarter

Scoring was much easier to come by in quarter number two. Both squads essentially traded buckets for the first 2:30 of the quarter. Now down by 10, the Cougars put together a 5-0 run to pull within five, with MacGregor being responsible for four of those points. 

A Rockford make broke the Concordia streak, but MacGregor's hot hand continued, scoring five of the game's next nine points. Now up by just one, Rockford kept CUC at bay until a Lexi Keating three-ball put some separation between the squads, 34-29. Clark added a layup with just 18 seconds left in the half to put her Regents up 36-29 at half. 

Third Quarter

The seven point difference from halftime did not waver too much until the 7:00 mark when a Audrina Terhune three and Kyla Wilkerson layup jacked the lead up to 10, 43-33. The run continued for Rockford, who scored the next four as well. 

Things looked closer after the Cougars scored five of the final seven points in the half, but a buzzer-beating Regent's three quickly put a damper on things, and the lead stood at 14 points through 30 minutes, Rockford winning 52-38. 

Fourth Quarter

Rockford did not slow down once the fourth quarter started, scoring seven of the first 10 points. After two made free throws from Jaylene Wade (Lansing, Ill.), no team would score consecutive buckets besides the Cougars at the 3:20 and 2:25 marks. 

The Regents were able to control things until the end, winning the game 66-50. 

CIT weekend is finally here for the Cougars, who travel to Seward, Nebraska, for the 70th annual tournament. The weekend kicks off Friday at 1 p.m. for CUC when they take on Concordia University Ann Arbor. Coverage of the entire weekend can be found at cucougars.com, as well as the team's Twitter, @CUCWbball.