The Concordia University Irvine women's basketball team secured its second straight win Saturday afternoon with a 73-57 victory over Notre Dame de Namur.

Kennedy Fulcher led the Eagles with 17 points and Riley Friauf added 16 points and a team-high nine rebounds.

The Eagles (3-8, 2-4 PacWest) built a 33-24 halftime advantage thanks to their defense which forced the Argonauts into 10 first-half turnovers.  CUI also held the visitors to just 27 percent shooting in the first 20 minutes while dissecting the zone on the offensive end.

"We typically play really well against a zone and we kept pushing and talking on offense," said Fulcher.  "I think from the get-go we were on and I think we are starting to realize our potential."

Fellow CUI sophomore and captain Michaela VanderKlugt was held scoreless in the first half but came on strong after intermission to finish with 14 points, seven rebounds, five assists and five steals.

"I think we had to grow up a lot today," admitted Concordia head coach Christine Collins-Kiernan. "We were a little bit thin on the bench with a couple injuries and sickness and stuff so we had some people playing a serious amount of minutes."

CUI freshman Katie Timmerman played all 40 minutes and finished with 13 points.  Timmerman hit two treys and also sank seven of her eight free throw attempts to help ice the game down the stretch.

"Katie's probably our most improved player on the floor from the day she stepped on campus to what she's doing now," said Collins-Kiernan.  "She has risen to every occasion we have thrust upon her and I don't even think about taking her out she's probably averaging 38 minutes as a freshman and that is incredible."

Francesca Wade-Sanchez also tied a season-high with six timely points off the bench.  Wade-Sanchez made three field goals and capitalized around the rim to give the Eagles a lift.

"She's gone from literally not playing at all the beginning of the season to being pretty successful for us in the last few games," added Collins-Kiernan, "and (Frankie's) minutes have grown game by game because she's becoming way more solid and her ability to stream minutes together in a consistent way is just keeping her on the floor."

Friauf played a fantastic first half and led all scorers with 12 points by halftime.  Friauf was also a team-best +19 against NDNU.  She has scored in double figures in nine of CUI's 11 games and the only two times she didn't, she tallied nine points.

"Riley is incredibly consistent regardless of what people have tried to do to her defensively," said Collins-Kiernan. "She still finds a way to stay very calm and she doesn't get too high or too low, she just maintains and stays the course.  She's probably our most improved player from last year to this year."

Concordia returns to action on Monday, Jan. 31 as Holy Names visits CU Arena.  Tip-off for the women's game is scheduled to start at 1 p.m. with the men's game to follow at 3:30 p.m.

For the full Concordia women's basketball schedule click here.