Concordia University Chicago Cougars (5-5 overall, 2-0 NACC)
at Lakeland University Muskies (3-8 overall, 1-1 NACC)
Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2024Â Â 7 p.m.
Woltzen Gymnasium
Lakeland/CUC Game Notes  PDF
The Lakeland University women's basketball team plays at home for the first time in over a month and begins the new year when it hosts Concordia University Chicago at 7 p.m. Wednesday night in a Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference game.
Broadcast Information:
Live video & live statistics:Â
http://www.lakelandmuskies.com/muskieslive. Andy Damp is again serving as the Voice of the Muskies calling the play-by-play for all Lakeland home basketball games this year.
Series history:Â 28th meeting, Lakeland leads 17-10
The Muskies swept two games from Concordia Chicago last year, a key factor in Lakeland finishing two games ahead of the Cougars in the final Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference standings. The Muskies edged CUC 59-54 at home Jan. 11, 2023, and then defeated the Cougars 70-57 on the road in River Forest Feb. 15 behind Kasey Gardner's career-high 26 points. The teams also met three times the year before, with all three games coming in a span of 19 days in February 2022. Lakeland won two of the games, including a 71-54 victory at home in the first round of the NACCÂ Tournament. That win came just five days after Concordia posted its most recent win in the series, a 54-44 victory to spoil the Muskies' Senior Night. Nearly all of the history between the two teams dates back to the two joining the NACC in 2006, with the only meeting before that coming Nov. 17, 2001, with Lakeland rolling to a 90-46 win at home.
Lakeland last time out: Lost to Lake Forest (Ill.) 73-66 Saturday
The Muskies came up empty in their trip to Greencastle, Ind., for the Amy Hasbrook Memorial Tournament hosted by DePauw University, falling to the Foresters in the tourney's consolation game. The teams were close the whole way with nine ties and nine lead changes, but Lake Forest finished the game on a 9-0 run, holding Lakeland scoreless the final four minutes.
A.T. Bartlett scored a career-high 16 points and added five assists and was named to the all-tournament team and
Jenna Caterino added 14 points plus seven rebounds. The Muskies also lost their tourney opener to the host school DePauw, which dominated both of its games and handled Franklin (Ind.) in the championship game.
Concordia last time out: Lost to Wisconsin-La Crosse 95-66 Dec. 9
The Cougars have been officially idle for nearly a month, since hosting UW-La Crosse on the second Saturday of December. UW-L got off to a scorching hot start, racing to a 38-13 lead after just one quarter, and maintained a comfortable lead the rest of the game. Concordia closed to as close as 16 points late in the third quarter, but the Eagles responded and led by as much as 31 in the final period. Nazuri Whigham scored 13 points to lead CUC, which shot 35.3% in the loss. The Cougars did play on Saturday, taking on NCAA Division I Northern Illinois and losing 98-32 in what counted as an exhibition game for Concordia. The Cougars struggled against the Huskies of the Mid-American Conference, shooting 21% and getting outrebounded 65-29.
About the Cougars: Concordia Chicago enters with a 5-5 overall record on the season and is 2-0 in NACC play. The Cougars defeated Dominican and Alverno back in December in their first two league games, part of a three-game winning streak before the loss to UW-La Crosse. CUC finished 12-13 overall last year and 10-8 in conference, one game out of a spot in the NACC Tournament, and the Cougars returned four starters this year for sixth-year coach Lauren Martin.
Flashes of excellence: Lakeland is 3-8 this season and has especially struggled late in some of its losses, leading in the fourth quarter in three of its defeats. On the plus side, the Muskies have three losses by single digits and a fourth loss in a game where they led with seven minutes left. Also, even with several lopsided losses to strong teams, Lakeland has outscored its opponents in the first quarter this season, 176-174, and has led after one quarter in six of eleven games, including Saturday when they held a five-point lead after one period against Lake Forest.
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