MEQUON, WIS. – Hitting the road for their first conference game of the season, the Concordia University Chicago women's basketball team (1-2, 1-0 NACC) downed the Concordia University Wisconsin Falcons (1-2, 0-1 NACC) 67-63. This win marks the first win of the season for the Cougars as well as the first win over the Falcons since 2018, marking Head Coach Lauren Martin's first win over the Falcons.
Inside the Box
- Katherine Benes (Oconomowoc, Wis.) once again topped her career-high points after grabbing 38 on the night while shooting 50 percent from the floor and 44 percent from three.
- Jaylene Wade (Lansing, Ill.) tied her career-high assists grabbing eight on the night on top of five rebounds and three points.
- Alexis Desjarlait (Red Lake, Minn.) grabbed a career-high ten points and five rebounds while Jada Dixon (Gary, Ind.) grabbed a season-high 8 points and eight rebounds as the duo each picked up a steal apiece.
The Cougars took an early 10-2 lead in the first quarter after being able to get in paint and score quickly. Two driving layups from Benes and a one apiece from Desjarlait and Alisyn MacGregor (Loves Park, Ill.) offered a promising start, but the Cougars quickly hit a wall. Another Benes layup would break the four minute dry streak.
Benes wastes no time as she gets the Cougs on the board first pic.twitter.com/QF1OzGHpJs
— CUC Women's Basketball (@CUCWBball) November 17, 2022
After falling behind to close the first quarter, back-to-back threes from Dixon would jump start the Cougar offense. Desjarlait also opened up the floor and grabbed her first three of the day as the Cougars jumped back up to a nine point lead.
We knew it was supposed to snow today, but nobody told us it'd be raining 3️⃣'s in Mequon pic.twitter.com/FEhNOFbgHj
— CUC Women's Basketball (@CUCWBball) November 17, 2022
With CUW attempting to battle back, the Cougar defense locked in and held the Falcons to 15 points in the second quarter. With Desjarlait and Benes putting up more threes, the Cougars were able to close the half with a nine point lead.
✨McKayley Hopkins✨
— CUC Women's Basketball (@CUCWBball) November 17, 2022
That's it. That's the tweet. pic.twitter.com/rk2XitrOvw
Fresh out of the half the Falcons scored an early two buckets, but the Cougars were ready to answer back as Benesdrained another three to bring their lead to ten. Battling on the boards MacGregor grabbed three offensive boards in the third quarter giving the Cougars continual offensive possession. An offensive rebound turned layup from MacGregorwould be her final points of the night.
Desjarlait ➡️ MacGregor for 2️⃣ pic.twitter.com/7kaCpBLtfa
— CUC Women's Basketball (@CUCWBball) November 17, 2022
Entering the final ten minutes of the game, the Falcons continued to fight the deficit while the Cougars held on. The Falcons cut the lead down to two points with two minutes remaining while a free throw from Wade brought the lead back up to three. Playing tough defense with less than thirty seconds remaining, the Cougars went back on the offensive end where Benes would put up two more free throws to bring the lead up to five. Continuing to play the game of fouls, the Falcons wound up at the charity stripe to cut the lead down to four with 3.7 seconds remaining. As the clock wound down, the Cougars claimed their victory over the Falcons.
Did everyone just see that dime pass from Wade ���� pic.twitter.com/Kw10jeujtD
— CUC Women's Basketball (@CUCWBball) November 17, 2022
The Cougars take their home court for the first time this season on Saturday, November 19th as they take on University of Mount Union at 3:00 p.m. inside Geiseman Gymnasium. Coverage can be found at cucougars.com while all things CUCWBB can be found on Twitter and Instagram @cucwbball.