NORTH MANCHESTER, IN — Returning from their California trip just days earlier, the Concordia University Chicago (CUC) women's basketball team (2-3) got back to work when they traveled to Manchester University (2-2) on Wednesday afternoon. In a back-and-forth affair, Manchester edged out Concordia, 66-59, to hand the Cougars their third straight loss.
-Inside the Box Score
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Alexis Desjarlait (Red Lake, Minn.) led the Cougars in scoring with a season-high 15 points. She was helped by a game-high three three-pointers.
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Khaliah Reid (Naperville, Ill.) put on a defensive clinic, swiping five steals.
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Nazuri Whigham (Naperville, Ill.) grabbed a team-leading six rebounds.
-How It Happened
First Quarter
CUC was able to jump out to a quick 5-1 lead thanks to an Alisyn MacGregor (Loves Park, Ill.) layup and a Melia Perry (Plainfield, Ill.) three-ball. When Manchester cut the lead down to just one, Desjarlait hit another Concordia three-pointer to bump the lead up to 8-4.
Desjarlait made another three under a minute later, and Reid added another one soon after that before followed up by a quick layup to put the CUC lead at 16-8 with 2:23 to go in the first. But Manchester went on an 8-2 run in the final 2:08 to pull within two, 18-16, after one quarter.
Second Quarter
Mancehster kept the scoring going to start the second, potting the first five points of the quarter to go on top, 21-18. Meanwhile, their defense stood tall, keeping CUC off the board until Whigham scored on a driving layup 5:20 into the quarter.
This kicked off an 8-0 run for the Cougars, putting them back in charge 26-21 with 3:15 left in the half. Manchester took over once again however, netting the final 10 points of the first half to put them up 31-26 heading into the break.
Third Quarter
After Manchester struck first in the second half, back-to-back buckets from MacGregor and Mikalah Ellis (Chicago, Ill.) brought CUC within three, 33-30, but a three and a layup from the home team jacked Manchester's lead up to 38-30.
Ellis broke the mini Manchester run with a jumper, and Reid soon scored five points in a row to get her squad back within three of Manchester, 40-37. Concordia would pull even closer a few minutes later after a Whigham layup made the score 43-41. To end the third, the dueling teams traded a pair of free throws, and Manchester hit a last second layup to go up 47-43 entering the final ten minutes.
Fourth Quarter
Consecutive threes and a free throw put Manchester up by 11 four minutes into the fourth quarter. CUC would gain some ground thanks to back-to-back jumpers from Reid and Desjarlait, but four straight Manchester points put the lead back at 11 with 3:18 to go.
Entering desperation mode, the Cougars pumped out a 10-1 run, capped off by a Desjarlait three-ball, to cut the deficit down to two, 61-59 with just over a minute left. Unfortunately for CUC, Manchester made five straight free throws to clinch the game, 66-59.
-Up Next
The Cougars get one more tune-up match on Tuesday, Nov. 28, before conference play begins when they host Principia College at 6 p.m. Coverage can be found at cucougars.com.
