(Ann Arbor, MI) Concordia returned to the Cardinal Field House Wednesday night in search of their second win of the young 2019-20 season. A closely contested game was ultimately won by the Cardinals by a score of 57-55. Aggressive defense and points in the paint won the game for Concordia, despite struggling from deep.
Cardinal post players Tris'styn Williams and Asaria Turman led the team with 16 and 11 points respectively. Katie Snow had 5 steals throughout the game, including the steal that sealed the fate of the game. Concordia struggled from deep (10.5%), but thrived in the paint, scoring 34 of their 57 down low. Spring Arbor was the opposite, shooting well from three point range (35.0%) and only scoring 14 in the paint.
Spring Arbor drew first blood with a three from Anne Marie Wright at the top of the key, which was answered by Aly Lenz with a shot completed just inside the three-point arc. The Cardinals played fast and aggressive defense, but picked up several fouls early on in the process. Concordia's press wreaked havoc on the Cougars forcing a 10-second backcourt violation and several other mistakes from Spring Arbor, but Spring Arbor maintained a small lead by knocking down shots from deep.
Concordia struggled to connect from three, missing all thirteen of their attempts in the first half. This made the Cardinals look inside, were Asaria Turman and Tris'styn Williams proved to be a good source of points. Concordia was finally able to retake the lead with 6:04 remaining in the half when Madison Birchmeier hit a pair of shots from the charity stripe. The Cardinal full court press continued to slow down the Cougars, but accumulated personal fouls on Concordia. When Spring Arbor was able to break past the press and set up their offense, they found ways to put up points from outside and take a one point lead into halftime.
The Cards forced several turnovers early in the third quarter, which helped them regain the lead once again. Tris'styn Williams was the Cardinals' catalyst on offense, converting a high percentage of her shots. Concordia continued to play aggressively, but personal fouls and turnovers allowed Spring Arbor to keep a small lead through most of the third quarter. Asaria Turman was the Cardinal to give CUAA the lead back with an old fashioned three-point play from a put back shot, but the lead was short lived as Spring Arbor sank a three going into the final quarter.
Katie Snow hit a jumper to open up the fourth as the physicality of the game continued until the final whistle. The Cardinals kept up with their full court press and wore down the Cougars who began to miss more of their shots from deep. Turman scored four straight points to give Concordia a wider margin along with the active defense. With just over 5 minutes remaining in the game Aly Lenz drained the Cardinals' first triple on the night on their 17th attempt. Spring Arbor responded with a three of their own to tie the game at 52, but Lenz found her rhythm and hit another three with three minutes left to play. The Cougars kept with the trend, trading another three to make it even at 55. With 25 seconds remaining, it was Katie Snow who played the role of hero, stealing the inbounds pass and taking it home for the game winning layup.
Up next for the Cardinals will be their first WHAC matchup against the Gray Wolves from Lourdes. Tip off will be at 6:00 pm this Saturday I the Cardinal Field House.
