Back-And-Forth NCAA Thriller Ends In Loss

ST. PAUL, Minn. (3/07/14)—Concordia was outscored 14-7 in the final 3:28 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament and lost 79-72 to No.13-ranked UW-Whitewater in a game which featured 10 tie scores and seven lead changes.

The Cobbers played their best national tournament game in their past four outings and wound up shooting 46.7% (28-for-60) from the floor and 36.8% (7-for-19) from 3-point range. Concordia finishes their season with a 21-6 overall record. It is the third time in the last four seasons the Cobbers have won at least 20 games in a season. The Warhawks advance to the second round where they will play St. Thomas and are now 23-4 on the year.

After struggling in last season's NCAA first round game, Concordia came out and took it to the WIAC regular-season champions. The Cobbers made eight of their first 10 shots in the game and got out to a five-point lead at 20-15 in the first six minutes of play.

Concordia would hold a lead in the first half until the 9:30 mark when the Warhakws took their second lead at 29-27. Whitewater would go on a 6-0 lead to earn their biggest lead of the half at 33-27. The Cobbers refused to fold under the high-pressure full-court press and proceeded to score 14 of the next 20 points and retook the lead in the final minute of play on a layup from junior reserve player Erin Januschka. Januschka would score the final eight points of the first half and give CC a 43-40 lead at the break. She finished with 12 of her career-high 21 points in the opening 20 minutes of play.

The Cobbers would continue their late-half momentum early in the second half by scoring nine of their first 12 points in the period to grab their biggest lead of the game at 52-43. Whitewater would slowly whittle away at the lead and went on to tie the game at 55-55 with 10:56 left to play. The game would stay within three points until the fateful final 3:28 of play.

In the end it was Whitewater's ability to drive and get to the free throw line and the constant pressure of their full-court press which earned the win. The Warhawks over twice as many free throws than the Cobbers and forced 24 turnovers in the game. Whitewater was 22-for-30 (73.3%) from the foul stripe while the 24 miscues were a season high for CC.

Januschka finished the game by going 10-for-15 from the floor and putting up 21 points. She also had five rebounds. Alley Fisher hit a trio of clutch 3-point field goals in the first half, went 4-for-9 from behind the arc and wound up with 17 points. It is the first time all season that Concordia has lost when Fisher scored in double figures.  Senior guard Erika Jossart came away with a game-high nine rebounds and a team-high six rebounds.

UW-Whitewater shot 41.3% (26-for-63) from the field and 29.4% (5-for-17) from behind the arc for the game.

Concordia outrebounded Whitewater 40-39 in the game. The Cobbers also held a 38-34 edge in points in the paint and a 12-9 advantage in second-chance points.