RIVER FOREST, ILL. – Ringing in the New Year on their home court the Concordia University Cougars defeated the Division Street Rival Dominican University Stars in an action packed 76-60 win.
Inside the Box
- Three Cougars scored in double-digits as Katherine Benes picked up 22, Alexis Desjarlait picked up 17, and Jaylene Wade picked up 15.
- Alisyn MacGregor dominated on the glass as she picked up a career-high 20 rebounds and five steals.
- The Cougars picked up a team-high 21 steals on the night, while picking up 30 of their 76 points off turnovers.
The Cougar defense showed up to work tonight as they started the game off with a steal after the Stars won the tip. Returning to the rotation for the Cougars Mikalah Ellis picked up the steal and the fastbreak layup to put the Cougars on the board first. The second steal of the Cougars' 12 first-quarter steals came as MacGregor stripped the ball and found the outlet that led to a fastbreak Benes bucket.
Kate Benes is excited and so are we!!! pic.twitter.com/yErCXwNdM0
— CUC Women's Basketball (@CUCWBball) January 5, 2023
As the Cougars only led by five heading into the second quarter, Benes took matters into her own hands as she picked up three consecutive buckets for eight points within one minute of play. Steals from MacGregor, Benes, and McKayley Hopkins each jumpstarted the buckets to follow. As the Cougars extended their lead to as much as 12-points in the second quarter, Melia Perry jumped on the scoring train and picked up her first points of the night with a catch and shoot three from the wing.
Catch + Shoot = BUCKETs by Melia Perry pic.twitter.com/IvwT1cnUwb
— CUC Women's Basketball (@CUCWBball) January 5, 2023
As the Cougars continued their intense defense and fast-paced offense into the second half, a transition bucket from Hopkins kept the 12-point advantage. Threes from Desjarlait, Benes, and Perry kept the advantage for the Cougars despite the Stars battling back. As the Cougars put up 22-points in the third quarter they remained on top of the Stars as they battled back and put up 19-points of their own in an attempt to combat the Cougar offense.
More defenders needed to stop Mckayley Hopkins... pic.twitter.com/3FtAWNyhGn
— CUC Women's Basketball (@CUCWBball) January 5, 2023
With the Stars cutting their deficit to as low as four in the fourth quarter, the Cougars kept their feet on the gas. Back-to-back threes from Wade and Desjarlait brought the Cougars back up to a 12-point lead while each of them picked up another jumper apiece to close the game with the 16-point victory.
It's a party, it's a party, it's a THREE point party! pic.twitter.com/WQs4ynKj5p
— CUC Women's Basketball (@CUCWBball) January 5, 2023
This win marks conference win number six in a row for the Cougars as they continue their historic conference opening win-streak. This team will look to continue this win streak as they take on the Rivals of the North when the Concordia University Wisconsin Falcons travel to Geiseman Gymnasium on Saturday, January 7th with tip-off scheduled for 4:15 pm. Live coverage and updates can be found at cucougars.com while all things Cougar Women's Hoops can be found on Twitter nd Instagram @cucwbball.