SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. - The Concordia University women's basketball team continued its strong play in the PacWest on Saturday afternoon but ultimately fell to the Urban Knights of Academy of Art 96-93 in overtime. 
 
Three different Eagles finished with double-doubles and multiple milestones were achieved in the matinee. 
 
Michaela VanderKlugt shot a sizzling 65 percent (15-for-23) and tied her career-high with 34 points while also setting a school-record with 24 rebounds. Fellow junior Kennedy Fulcher racked up 12 points and 13 rebounds while redshirt freshman Lainie James came off the bench to post career-highs with 16 points and 11 boards. This was also the first double-double for James in a Concordia uniform.
 
In a first quarter that saw the Eagles (6-4 overall, 4-1 PacWest) score more points (26) than they did in the entire second half of Thursday's win over Notre Dame de Namur (13), the Eagles found themselves down by just one, 27-26.
 
VanderKlugt, fresh off of joining the 1,000 point club in the win over NDNU, dominated in the first half.  The Antioch, Calif. native had already notched a double-double midway through the second quarter and finished the half with 19 points and 15 rebounds.
 
Coming off a game where the Eagles scored just 39 points in four quarters, the Eagles dusted off the Christmas Break cobwebs and scored 48 points in the first half.  
 
Sophomore guard Jasmine Rachal joined VanderKlugt in the first half in double figures with 10, while James contributed eight to go along with seven rebounds.  
 
The Eagles controlled the glass in the first half as well, doubling up the Urban Knights 12-6 on offense rebounds, while out rebounding them by 15 (32-17).  
 
But it was a back and forth contest all afternoon. The fourth quarter was where the action really started to pick up when with 2:35 left on the clock, the Urban Knights took a one point lead on a fast break layup. The Eagles came right back down the court and retook the lead on a clutch three pointer by James.
 
"I felt my teammates energy and I wanted to execute for them and that's what motivated me," said James. "I took my opportunities and tried as hard as I could."
 
After ART U (5-5 overall, 3-3 PacWest) took an 85-83 lead with 5.9 seconds left in regulation, the Eagles had a couple looks at the basket to win the game or force overtime. As time expired VanderKlugt grabbed rebound No. 22 of the afternoon and was able to beat the buzzer with a putback to knot the game at 85. That offensive board set the CUI single-game record for most rebounds but more importantly forced overtime and gave the Eagles a chance to reset.
 
"I took advantage of my matchups and made them pay," said VanderKlugt. "Coach made it very clear that we had to be relentless on the boards and that is what I did. I wasn't hanging back, I was going and attacking the ball."
 
In overtime, the Eagles had their chances but ultimately it was the Urban Knights who came away with the victory. Down four points, Rachal sank a big trey with 9.3 seconds left to draw CUI within one and ART U missed multiple free throws down the stretch. However, ART U was able to come up with a couple key offensive rebounds to escape.
 
"It was a really tough loss," admitted James. "We were all super focused and it's just really tough we couldn't pull it off."
 
"One thing I can take away from this is a learning experience," added VanderKlugt. "We have to take care of the ball to win."
 
"I picked ART U to finish in the top three of our conference for a reason," said CUI head coach Christine Collins-Kiernan. "They have a lot of offensive firepower and they showed it today. We had every opportunity to finish the game in the W column but did not complete little detailed tasks that would have put us there. I knew we had a lot of growing to do this year and it is my hope we take this loss as a springboard to go forward. We can fix our mistakes and we can continue to battle in this conference that is not only big but very deep."
 
VanderKlugt's performance on the boards Saturday broke the previous school record for most rebounds in a single game which had been held by Heather Carll. Carll tracked down 21 rebounds against North Park in a game back in 1998.
 
Saturday's contest also marked the third straight game that Fulcher corralled at least 12 rebounds.
 
"Michaela and Kennedy held it down for us on the defensive boards and I anticipate them shattering the rebounding records here at CUI," added Collins-Kiernan. "(Unfortunately) we needed a few more of those defensive boards down the stretch."
 
The Eagles had outscored their first four PacWest opponents by an average of 20 points and started the year 4-0 in the PacWest for the first time in program history. The Green and Gold return to action on Thursday, Jan. 9 at Azusa Pacific.
 
For the full CUI women's basketball schedule, click here.