RIVER FOREST, ILL. — In the last game of Winter Break, the Concordia University Chicago (CUC) women's basketball (5-7, 2-2) welcomed the Benedictine University Eagles (3-10, 3-1) inside Geiseman Gymnasium for Saturday afternoon hoops. After a closely-knit start to the game, Benedictine eventually pulled away and handed CUC a decisive 59-48 loss.
-Inside the Box Score
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Mikalah Ellis (Chicago, Ill.) led all Cougars in points with her 12 point-showing, which she accomplished in just 21 minutes of game time.
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Joining Ellis in double-digits was Nazuri Whigham (Naperville, Ill.) with 11. Whigham also dished out three assists, which was tied with Khaliah Reid (Naperville, Ill.) for the most on the team.
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Alisyn MacGregor (Loves Park, Ill.) was a dominant force on the boards, grabbing a game-high 15 rebounds.
-How it Happened
First Quarter
The two squads spent the first three minutes trading blows. Jordan Carlquist wasted little time getting Benedictine on the board in just 12 seconds, but MacGregor responded with a layup 20 seconds later. Whigham briefly gave CUC their first lead of the day at the 8:43 mark, but Carlquist tied things up at four 33 seconds later. Alexis Desjarlait (Red Lake, Minn.) thought she gave her Cougars some breathing room with a three-ball, but Carlquist continued her fantastic start by draining her own three-pointer to set the score at 7-7.
This is where the Eagles started pulling away, scoring 12 straight points to take a commanding 19-7 lead with 3:56 to go in the quarter. Abby Kulig (Carol Stream, Ill.) stopped the bleeding at 3:08 with a layup off a spot-on pass from Whigham, but that did little to slow down the rolling Eagles, who scored six of the next eight points.
Linley Southern (Decatur, Ill.) ended the quarter on a high note for the Cougars, completing an and-one play in the last minute, but the score still sat at 25-13 in favor of Benedictine heading into the second quarter.
Second Quarter
Defense reigned dominant to start the second quarter, as it took Ellis until 7:26 to score the first points of the quarter for either side. Benedictine scored the next five points prior to Desjarlait three cutting the lead to 30-18 with 3:28 before half.
Then commenced a two minute scoreless drought filled with multiple turnovers from both teams. Marissa Hanley ended that drought when her jumper upped Benedictine's lead to 14. A pair of Autumn Rucker free throws made it 34-18, but a Whigham jumper with 21 seconds left brought the Cougars within 14 as the teams made their way to the locker rooms.
Third Quarter
Concordia started to turn a corner in the third, going on a 9-2 run in the first 3:27 of the quarter to pull within seven, 36-29.
Following a 30 second timeout, the Eagles hit their stride again, scoring the next six points. CUC did not back down however, collecting the final seven points of the quarter. Ellis led the charge here, scoring five of those seven points.
After trailing by 16 at one point, the Cougars had cut the deficit all the way down to six with 10 minutes left in regulation.
Fourth Quarter
Looking to snuff out any chance of a CUC comeback, Benedictine opened the fourth quarter with a Sierra Skack three. Desjarlait got two of the points back with a trip to the free throw line, but another Eagles three soon pushed the lead back into double-digits, 48-38.
Concordia was able to regularly record baskets, but not without allowing the Eagles to do the same. Back-to-back jumpers from Benedictine shot the lead up to 14, but a Melia Perry (Plainfield, Ill.) three and Prentciss Gates (Gary, Ind.) jumper got the Cougars back within single-digits, trailing 57-48 with 1:07 to go.
CUC never closed the gap however, as two free-throws from Rucker sealed the deal for the Eagles, who won by a final total of 59-48.
-Up Next
Concordia returns to Geiseman Gymnasium this Wednesday, Jan. 10, to host the Milwaukee School of Engineering. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m., and coverage can be found at
cucougars.com.
