December 15, 2016- After an extended road trip, the Concordia University Chicago Cougars Women's Basketball team returned to the friendly confines of Geiseman Gymnasium tonight. The night was joyous for the Cougars, going wire-to-wire for the 69-59 win. In the process junior Courtney Lofink broke and then set the CUC all-time career assists mark, with an assist to Lauren Orr on a three with 7:01 remaining in the fourth quarter. Also, Kayla Engelhard picked up her first career win as acting head coach, filling in for Rusty Rogers.

The Cougars came out hot in the first quarter with a 7-0 run fueled by threes from Lofink and Orr and a layup by Taylor Jacobsen. Aurora fought back as they would continue to do all night. Miranda Rogers hit a three, and Crystal Corr was fed perfectly by Lofink to keep the Spartans chasing. A three by Sami Hultine cut the Cougar lead to two, but a buzzer beating three by Michaela Thornton from the right wing gave CUC the 17-12 lead after one quarter.

CUC broke the game open in the second quarter with great defense that led to easy offense. T.Jacobsen converted a steal into a layup to begin the quarter. Annika Rae hit a three from the wing, followed by another steal converted to a layup by Lofink that extended the lead to double digits. Orr continued to keep the pressure on with a three, while Lofink and T.Jacobsen layups extended the lead to 16 at the half.

The Cougars shot 47 percent in the first half (15-32). Eight Cougars scored in the first half, led by Orr and Lofink with seven. The Cougar defense limited Aurora to just 25 percent shooting from the floor in the half (7-28).

Aurora made their presence known in the third quarter and fought back. CUC was unable to get a shot to fall over the first four minutes of the second half. Aurora continued to push back, cutting what was a 16 point lead for CUC to just three before a pair of free throws by Lofink gave CUC a little breathing room and a 47-42 lead after three.
The Spartans continued to try and catch CUC in the fourth. Back-to-back jumpers by T.Jacobsen extended the lead back to seven early in the quarter. Threes by Orr and Erin Jacobsen threatened to open the game back up, but Aurora would not go away. Finally a layup by Corr a three by Rogers extended the lead back to nine with just under four minutes to play. Aurora continued to fight, but six straight points by T.Jacobsen would close out the 69-59 victory for CUC.

Led by T. Jacobsen's 17 points, the Cougars' shot 44 percent from the field (26-59) and 41 percent from deep (9-22). The day was Lofink's though, finishing with nine assists on the night, giving her 290 for her career as a Cougar and sole possession of the all-time record. Adriana Ramirez did all she could for Aurora, finishing with 18 points and 23 rebounds on the night.

The Cougars (4-3 3-3 NACC) are now a perfect 3-0 at home on the season, they look to extend that mark when they take on rival Dominican University on Saturday. The Rivalry Cup contest is set to tip at 2:00pm from Geiseman.