Women's Basketball advances to CIT championship game

ANN ARBOR, Wis. – Concordia University Wisconsin poured it on in the second half en route to a commanding 74-52 victory over Concordia University Ann Arbor in the first round of the Concordia Invitational Tournament on Friday night.

The Falcons advance to play Concordia University Nebraska on Saturday at 5 pm EST in the CIT title game. The Bulldogs blew out Concordia University Chicago in their matchup, 102-66. It will be the fifth time in head coach Stacey Brunner-Jones tenure CUW has advanced to the championship game and will be matched up against CUNE. The last CIT title the Falcons won was a double-overtime thriller over CUNE, 70-69, on Jan. 27, 2007.

CUW outscored CUAA 38-18 in the second half and had four freshman score in double-figures for the game. The Falcons shot 47.8 percent and their defense shut down the Cardinals in the second half (22.2 percent).

After leading by two at halftime, CUW put together a 10-0 scoring run during the first five minutes of the second half to take control. During the run, freshman Audrey Scharmer (Winona, Minn.) scoring six points. Another reason the Falcons were able to separate themselves from the hosts, was offensive rebounds. They grabbed 14 misses and converted those into 24 second chance points.

CUW used its four-forward lineup well and scored an impressive 40 points in the paint. They also forced 10 turnovers and tallied 17 points off those CUAA miscues.

Scharmer recorded her third double-double of the season with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Freshman Katelyn Sewall (Menasha, Wis. led all players with 17 points on 7-of-10 shooting, while fresman Corrina Terrano (Phoenix, Ariz.) added 11 points. Freshman Brianna Wagner (Fond du Lac, Wis.) finished with 10 points, seven rebounds and four assists.

Sophomore Sammi Blissett (Springfield, Ill.) hauled in a career-high six rebounds and junior Madelyn Landgraf dished out a career-high-tying six assists. Wagner also had a career-best four assists and Sewall made a career-high seven field goals.

Michelle Murnen led the Cardinals with 13 points, while Kari Borowiak and Colleen Szakacs each had 12 points.

The opening 20 minutes of play were close with five scoring ties and four lead changes. CUAA went ahead after scoring eight unanswered points, 18-11, with 13:18 to play before halftime. CUW will slowly fight back and take a 36-34 lead into the locker room after forcing a turnover and converting on a Wagner field goal.

After scoring 10 unanswered points to go ahead 48-34, the Falcons lead hovered in double-digits until reaching the 20-point plateau on a Sewall jumper with 2:31 remaining in the game.