River Forest, Ill. - After competing in the final Concordia Invitational Tournament (CIT) as they know it, the Concordia University Chicago (CUC) Cougars women's basketball team went down the street to compete against their Division Street rivals, the Dominican Stars where the Cougars obtained their second win of the season with a final score of 57-54.
Inside the Box Score:
- Khaliah Reid (Naperville, Ill.) had a huge offensive night with 20 points.
- The only other Cougar in double digits was Mikalah Ellis (Chicago, Ill.) with 12 points and seven points.
Here's What Happened
First Quarter
The Dominican Stars started off the scoring and went on an early 5-0 run until Reid put the Cougars on the board.
From there, free throws from Sydney Nimsakont (Glendale Heights, Ill.) as well as buckets from Alisyn MacGregor (Loves Park, Ill.) and Reid put the score at 14-9 favoring the Stars. The Cougars only scored once more in the quarter with a layup by Reid. Heading into the second quarter, the score was 16-11, the Stars.
Second Quarter
The Cougars opened up the scoring in the second quarter with a Reid three to bring the score within 16-14, Cougars trailing. The Cougars and Stars continue on a track of sharing baskets, highlighting layups and turnaround jumpers from Abby Kulig (Carol Stream, Ill.) to keep the Cougars still trailing but within just one point.
The Cougars did not score for nearly four minutes of game time until Reid ended the scoring drought with a three pulling the Cougars were back within three. Going into half, the Cougars only scored once more, bringing the score to 26-24, favoring the stars.
Third Quarter
The Stars opened the scoring in the third, but Ellis quickly put the celebrations to a silence with a tough turnaround midrange jumper. From there, the score was 31-26, in favor of the Stars. A jumper from Ellis puts the Cougars back within three. Neither team scored for the next two and a half minutes of game time until Aniyah Hinton-Henry (Gary, Ind.) converted on a fastbreak layup.
With the score at 31-30, favoring the Stars, the Stars would go on a 6-0 run that was only answered by a pair of free throws from Hinton-Henry. Back-to-back layups for Kulig and Nimsakont, with an and-one opportunity rounded out the scoring in the third quarter. The Stars hit a buzzer beating three to end the quarter where they increased their lead to seven going into the fourth quarter.
Fourth Quarter
Unlike the other quarters, the Cougars struck first with a three by Ellis, where the score was 43-39, favoring the Stars. From there, the efforts of Grace King (Fairland, Ind.), Reid, MacGregor, and Ellis brought the game into a tie. A layup and three-pointer from Reid brought the Cougars into their first lead of the night, where the score was 54-49, favoring the Cougars. The Stars tried to come back however, two free throws from Ellis solidified the Cougar win with a final score of 57-54.
What's Next
The team will take a few days to prepare for their next conference game day against Marian University for a 2:00 pm tip-off. Coverage for all things CUC women's basketball can be found at cucougars.com/coverage.
