Women's Basketball slowed by Wisconsin Lutheran in loss

MILWAUKEE – Concordia University Wisconsin did all it could on Thursday night to take down Wisconsin Lutheran College, but the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference leader proved to be too much and earned a 55-44 victory. The loss snaps a three-game winnings streak for the Falcons.

CUW fought back from a 12-point deficit midway through the first half and knotted the scoreboard at 19-19 at halftime. However, the Falcons couldn't catch fire in the second half or slow down the Warriors, which resulted in the defeat.

"I am disappointed with our second half performance offensively," head coach Stacey Brunner-Jones expressed with displeasure. "We went away from our game plan and relied on 1-on-1 basketball too often. Defensively we didn't play with the same intensity as we did in the first 20 minutes of the game."

During the first half, the Falcons played excellent defense and held the top-scoring team in the NACC to just 19 points on 8-of-26 shooting (30.8 percent). Meanwhile, CUW had its difficulties scoring the basketball and tallied just 19 points themselves for a stalemate at the intermission.

The second half slowly slipped away for the Falcons, as the Warriors went to Kristen Schulz on nearly every possession. WLC's leader ended the contest with 22 points, 18 rebounds, seven blocks and two steals. CUW shot just 32.4 percent in the second half, while WLC found its rhythm and made 57.7 percent of its attempts.

Junior Megan Coenen (Green Bay, Wis.) led the Falcons with 11 points, while freshman Audrey Scharmer (Winona, Minn.) scored 10 points. Sophomore Sammi Blissett (Springfield, Ill.) scored six points and stole two passes. Sophomore Taylor DeLong (Milwaukee, Wis.) finished with four points, nine rebounds and three assists.

Christel Frey added 11 points, eight rebounds and two blocks, while Maggie Gartner had seven points, five rebounds and two assists for the Warriors (13-3, 11-1 NACC).

The Falcons finished the game with a 12-7 advantage in second chance points after grabbing 10 offensive rebounds. They did, however, struggle from downtown and made just 1-of-8 attempts. Both teams combined for 62 points in the paint.

CUW (13-4, 10-4 NACC) returns to action on Wednesday for a 7 p.m. matchup against Wisconsin Lutheran College inside the R. John Buuck Field House.