Anderson, Ind. – The Concordia University Chicago (CUC) Cougars women's basketball team continued their road travels as they headed to Anderson Indiana to take on the Anderson University Ravens. After four quarters of hard fought battles, the Cougars were unable to gain the momentum needed to take over and fell 85-49.
Game Leaders:
- Sydney Nimsakont (Glendale Heights, Ill.) led the Cougars with 24 minutes played and 10 points scored.
- The next leading scorer was Cydnei Mitchell (Aurora, Ill.) with seven points, and she also recorded four steals.
- Grace King (Fairland, Ind.) led the team in rebounds, grabbing eight as well as scored five points.
Here's What Happened:
First Quarter
The first four minutes of the game the Cougars remained scoreless, where they struggled to find their momentum. After an 11-0 run from the Ravens, the Cougars were forced into their first timeout of the game. Out of timeout, Mikalah Ellis (Chicago, Ill.), saw the floor for the first time this season, put the Cougars on the board by scoring with a mid-range jumper. Ellis was also able to score a layup, making the score 12-4 in favor of the Ravens. The Ravens went on a short run of five points, but a baseline three-pointer from Nimsakont ended the run. The Cougars slowly got into a groove, the score was 17-7.
The Ravens finished off the quarter by scoring nine points, making the score 26-7.
Second Quarter
Heading into the second quarter, the Cougars knew they would need to try a different look on the defensive end. The changed efforts on defense converted to success on the offensive end. Starting off the quarter, Aniyah Hinton-Henry (Gary, Ind.) drove in and finished with a beautiful floater, and was followed by a short jumper from Nimsakont.
Keeping the scoring streak alive, Nimsakont knocked down another three for the Cougars where the score was now 28-14. The Cougars were still behind but only three minutes into the quarter, the Cougars scored the same amount of points as they did from the first quarter. The Ravens brought their score up to 35 by a compilation of made three-pointers as well as free throws from fouls. Alisyn MacGregor (Loves Park, Ill.), fought for offensive possession, went up for a layup, but was fouled, which brought her to the line. Macgregor went one-for-two at the line and made the score 35-19, in favor of the Ravens.
The Ravens looked to go 11-0 to end the half, similar to how they started the game but Mitchell went on a full-sprint to drive in for a layup and was fouled with half of a second left on the clock. The foul brought her to the line where she went two-for-two, bringing the Cougars out of their scoring rut.
In an attempt to get a fast jumper to end the half, King got a quick steal off of the inbound, however unable to get the release off in time, the bucket did not count. Heading into halftime, the score was 26-21, favoring the Ravens.
Third Quarter
Starting the second half, the Ravens scored off of back-to-back layups and then followed those with a top of the key three-pointer. Increasing their lead, the three consecutive, scoring possessions brought the score to 53-21. Fouled on a drive, Hinton-Henry went to the line and went one for two, scoring their first and only points for the first five minutes of the third quarter.
Scoring another three, the Ravens continued to dominate the long distance game. Following this basket the teams went into a media timeout where the score was 60-22. With two and a half minutes remaining in the third quarter, King scored a layup to get the Cougars their second and third points of the quarter. What seemed like a freshman takeover, Kira Holliday (Roselle, Ill.) and Courtneye Schneider (Plainfield, Ill.) scored out of transition for the Cougars in the last minute of the quarter.
The score at the end of the quarter was 66-28.
Fourth Quarter
The Ravens were the first to score in the final quarter of tonight's game, however the Cougars were able to show what they're made of when they hit back-to-back threes from freshman King and Hannah Lopez.
Allowing a jump shot from the Ravens, Linley Southern (Decatur, Ill.) scored from a jumper and Mitchell had a three from the top of the key after a no-look pass from King.
The following points came from Abby Kulig (Carol Stream, Ill.) off a banked jump shot. The Cougars were doing everything they could to chip away at the deficit, but the score still favored the Ravens at 76-41. The remaining two minutes of the game, the Ravens scored nine total points, however to get the final points of the game, Schneider had a reverse layup putback.
The Cougars fought hard, but fell 85-49, and are now 0-2 on the season.
What's Next
The Cougars will stay in River Forest for their home opener against University of Chicago on Friday, November 22nd. Tip off is set for 7:00 pm. Coverage for all things CUC women's basketball can be found at cucougars.com/coverage.
