Strong finish leads Women's Basketball to win over NACC-leading WLC

MEQUON, Wis. – A 22-10 run over the final 13:31 lifted the Concordia University Wisconsin Women's Basketball team to a 59-50 win over NACC-leading Wisconsin Lutheran College Wednesday night at the R. John Buuck Field House.

The Falcons, who were tied at 30 heading into halftime, trailed 40-37 after the Warriors Christel Frey made a layup with 13:31 to play in the game. From there it was all Falcons as a 9-0 run put them up 46-40. A Brianna Wagner (Fond du Lac, Wis.) old fashioned 3-point play and a Madelyn Landgraf (Fond du Lac, Wis.) layup helped spark the run.

"It was good to see us put two halves together tonight," said Falcons head coach Stacey Brunner-Jones. "We outrebounded them, which was a big key to the game and getting 12 offensive rebounds really helped us get the win."

The Falcons finished the night with 35 rebounds compared to 32 for Wisconsin Lutheran, and got contributions from several players, six finishing with three or more boards. Freshman Audrey Scharmer had eight rebounds in the game, including three on the offensive glass.

The Warriors cut the Falcons lead to three with 5:09 to play but Landgraf and the Falcons responded with a 3-point shot with 4:38 to go, making the score 51-45. The Landgraf 3-pointer came as the shot clock expired and were a part of a 13-point second-half for the junior guard.

WLC would get within four a couple times down the stretch but CUW was clutch at the charity stripe, making their final six free throws, four from Landgraf and two from Scharmer (Winona, Minn.).

Landgraf finished the game with 20 points and was a perfect 3-for-3 from behind the arc. She had three rebounds, two assists and made 5-of-6 from the free throw line. Wagner had a big game as well for the Falcons with 15 points and six rebounds, while dishing out three assists. The freshman forward also had a block and two steals.

"It was nice to get a good inside-outside game," said Brunner-Jones. "Maddie had strong play from the perimeter and Brianna and Audrey had outstanding games inside."

The opening half was a back-and-forth affair that saw both teams come out on fire. Eight minutes into play the Warriors had a 16-14 lead and they would extend that lead to 25-19 with 7:40 to go. CUW would trail 28-23 with 3:46 to go, but closed the half on a 7-2 run to make the score 30-30.

Wagner was impressive in the opening 20 minutes, scoring 10 of her 15 points on 5-of-6 shooting. The Falcons went into the locker room tied despite Wisconsin Lutheran shooting 52 percent from the floor (13-for-25). CUW shot 44.8 percent (13-for-29) from the floor in the first half, but used six offensive rebounds to gain extra possessions.

For the game, WLC shot 44 percent (22-for-50) compared to a 38.3 percent effort (23-for-60) by the Falcons. However, CUW again used an offensive rebounding (12-6) and turnover (14-22) edge to gain extra possessions and pull off the victory.

"I think it shows how hard we worked to be outshot but still able to get the win," said Brunner-Jones. "We played hard for 40 minutes and I was happy to see that."

The Falcons will travel to Ann Arbor, Mich. tomorrow for the Concordia Invitational Tournament scheduled for Friday and Saturday. CUW will open with host Concordia Ann Arbor at 6 p.m. EST Friday night.