Women's Basketball falls at Concordia Chicago
RIVER FOREST, Ill. – The University of Dallas women's basketball team fell 79-55 at Concordia Chicago on Sunday afternoon. Down six points at halftime, the Crusaders were outscored by 18 in the second stanza, which included a 20-10 third quarter.
Dallas dropped to .500 (2-2) on the season, while the Cougars remained unbeaten with a 3-0 start.
HOW IT HAPPENED
A layup by Michelle DeCoud (Monument, Colo.) got the Crusaders on the board 1:18 minutes in after Concordia netted an early 3-0 start. Consecutive three-pointers by Kayla Horlacher halfway through the quarter pushed the home team's lead to eight (14-6).
Helen Onyenso (Oak Park, Ill.) scored the next three field goals for UD to reduce the deficit in half (16-12) with three minutes in the period. Olivia Severson (La Crosse, Wis.) tallied a layup and hit the free throw to complete an old fashioned three-point play with 49 seconds before the first break. That sequence made it a one-point game (18-17) with the Crusaders trailing, but then a layup by CC closed the quarter 20-17.
Nearly two minutes passed without either side scoring in the next quarter. Taylor Jacobsen and DeCoud traded layups before the Cougars went up 25-19. A jumper by Jules Oliveti (Southlake, Texas) counted for the second field goal in over three minutes into the frame for UD. She was hit on the shot, which gave her a chance at a three-point play. After a Concordia timeout, Oliveti hit the and-one to make it a three-point game (25-22) with 6:36 before half.
The offense stalled again for the Crusaders, as the deficit spanned back to eight (30-22) over the next two minutes. Oliveti put in a layup at 4:09, and Vanessa Diaz (San Antonio, Texas) hit a free throw (2:32) and layup (1:10) to pull UD back to three.
Meanwhile, the Cougars had gone cold with the last points etched on a Horlacher trey halfway through the second. Sophia Leon ended the drought with a jumper at 49 seconds left to make it 32-27.
Dallas trailed 34-28 at intermission.
It was another slow start to a quarter as DeCoud scored the first points on a layup almost two and a half minutes in. The senior kept brought Dallas within two (36-34) after netting a pair of free throws on separate occasions.
Concordia only had two points about midway through the third quarter, but heated up by scoring 18 points the rest of the way. Maddie Vojacek started the run at 5:09 with a three. Leon connected with a jumper two minutes later and then sank a trifecta with 2:57 left to open a 10-point lead (44-34).
The Cougars ballooned the lead to as many as 26 late in the fourth quarter. They outshot Dallas 40.8 percent to 33.3 percent and had 13 three-pointers. Concordia slightly edged in rebounds (46-41) and received 44 points from the bench.
Leon led the offense with 24 points (9-13 FG). She and Horlacher combined for 10 three-pointers with five apiece. Taylor Jacobsen added 17 points, while all Horlacher's points were from distance. Erin Jacobsen dished six assists and tied Leon for a team-high eight rebounds.
DeCoud led the Crusaders with her second double-double in a row with 18 points and 15 boards. She contributed three assists and steals to lead Dallas. Onyenso also reached double figures, while Oliveti added seven.
TIP-INS
DeCoud's rebound total in her career is now exactly 650, as she achieved a season-most on Sunday.
Onyenso netted a career-high 15 points and had 10 of them within the first 10 minutes of the contest.
The Crusaders scored 17 free throws. DeCoud was responsible for 10 of them, which was one shy from a personal-high in a game her freshman season at Schreiner University (February 13th, 2015).
SOCIAL MEDIA
.@dallaswbb Final: #UDCrusaders conclude Thanksgiving Weekend with a setback at Concordia Chicago. DeCoud recorded another double-double to lead #UDWBB in points and rebounds. #GoUD #d3h pic.twitter.com/IyeI3JshTE
— UDallas Athletics (@UDallasSports) November 26, 2017
UP NEXT
Dallas returns to the Maher Center for six of the next seven games, which includes five being played in the month of December. The stretch begins November 30th versus University of the Ozarks at 5:30 p.m. Two days later, the Crusaders host Johnson & Wales University (CO).