RIVER FOREST, ILL.
INSIDE THE BOX
- Khaliah Reid (Naperville, Ill.) led the Cougars in points with 16 while tacking on two rebounds, two assists, and two steals.
- Courtneye Schneider (Plainfield, Ill.) picked up a career-high 11 points while adding in three rebounds, two assists, one block, and one steal.
- Aniyah Hinton-Henry (Gary, Ind.) led on the defensive end with seven rebounds while adding in six points and three steals.
HOW IT HAPPENED
FIRST QUARTER
The Cougars struck first with an early layup from Reid, but the Scarlet Hawks answered back quickly to level the score. A three from the visitors would jump ahead by three, but another layup from Reid would make it a one point game. Keeping the momentum on their side, the Scarlet Hawks would jump out to a six point lead. Buckets from Hinton-Henry and
Sydney Nimsakont (Glenbard, Ill.) would bring the Cougars within one, but the Scarlet Hawks would once again take the lead. Off a student-section clearing cross-up, the Cougar would level the score at 14 apiece off the hands of Reid.
A triple from
Alina Paul (Elmwood Park, Ill.) would give the Cougars their first lead of the day since the opening bucket. A pair of free throws from Reid would keep that CUC lead as the first ten minutes expired.
SECOND QUARTER
The Scarlet Hawks struck first in the second quarter and jumped out to a two point lead, but a bucket from Hinton-Henry leveled the score back at 21 each. A pair of free throws from Nimsakont would send the Cougars ahead by two. The Scarlet Hawks would go on a burst and take the four point lead, but an offensive board and putback for
Grace King (Fairfield, Ind.) would bring them within two. A 4-0 run for the Scarlet Hawks would leave the Cougars trailing by six heading into half.
THIRD QUARTER
With the Cougars trailing at the start of the fresh half, they would fall even further behind with a 6-0 run in favor of the Scarlet Hawks. With six of the nine third quarter points coming at the hands of Schneider, the Cougars would head into the final ten minutes trailing by 21 points.
FOURTH QUARTER
The Cougars struck first in the fourth quarter with a three from Paul. The Scarlet Hawks would counter with a three of their own, but the Cougars would do what they could to continue to counter. Buckets from Hinton-Henry and
Abby Kulig (Carol Stream, Ill.) would keep things moving for the Cougars.
Despite outscoring the Scarlet Hawks 23-16 in the fourth quarter, and securing their most points in a quarter of the day, CUC would still fall short 71-57 in their home finale. The Cougars will be back on the road for the season finale on Saturday as they head to Rockford, Ill. to take on the Regents of Rockford University. The game is slated for a 2:00pm start and coverage can be found at cucougars.com/coverage.
