FRESNO, Calif. – The CUI women's basketball team fought to the final second on Monday against PacWest opponent Fresno Pacific, falling by a final score of 70-67.
VanderKlugt Breaks the PacWest Rebound Record
Michaela VanderKlugt entered Monday's game needing only six rebounds to break the all-time PacWest rebound record, and she did just that. With 7:37 left on the clock in the 3
rd quarter, VanderKlugt recorded a defensive rebound on a missed FPU jumper, resulting in her 1,010
th career rebound. With that rebound, she passed Point Loma's Roya Rustamzada, who recorded 1,009 rebounds from 2014 to 2018. VanderKlugt would go on to finish the game with nine rebounds, increasing her career total to 1,013.
"To break that PacWest record means the world to me!" explained VanderKlugt. "I've worked hard for this since I was a little girl. I love rebounding. I love going after all the extra hustle plays. From the first day I stepped on campus here at Concordia, Coach (Collins-Kiernan) always preached to me that rebounding is all about effort. The time and extra effort I've put in each and every year to improving my game since I've been at Concordia is all coming together. This is a great accomplishment. One I'll be proud of my whole life."
"Michaela competes, she cares about the effort and the attention to detail, and the intangibles required to be successful," said CUI head coach Christine Collins-Kiernan. "She has been undersized at her position for her career and routinely shows by example it is work ethic, effort, and consistently doing your job that gets results, not just talent."
"In our program, we say it takes no talent to rebound or play defense and she has been incredibly high level in both of those. I have told her since our first conversation that she would break records, change our program, and get the opportunity to teach and lead while she played basketball. She has so far accomplished all of those tasks and I am excited to watch her put an exclamation mark on her career here."
Rachal Closes in on Milestone
In addition to VanderKlugt's recent milestones, teammate
Jasmine Rachal has begun closing in on one of her own: 1,000 career points. Entering Monday's game with 972 career points, Rachal put up 20 points on the Sunbirds, increasing her career total to 992. That was Rachal's fourth game scoring at least 20 points this season and the 16
th time she has done so in her career. The junior guard is currently averaging 16.8 points per game this season and is likely to pass the mark in CUI's next game.
The Game
The Green & Gold started the game off strong, outscoring the Sunbirds 24-13 in the first quarter, and then holding on to a 34-30 lead headed into half. However, Fresno Pacific would prove relentless, outscoring the Eagles by seven points in the second half to cover the deficit.
CUI remained in the fight until the very end. Down by six with only three seconds left on the clock, Rachal drained a three-pointer to put the game within one score. However, FPU was able to inbound the ball and run out the clock, ending the game with a 70-67 final score.
The Eagles took advantage of many shooting opportunities in the game, shooting 44 percent from the floor, 40 beyond the arc, and making 13 of 14 from the charity stripe. Despite effective shooting for Concordia, Fresno Pacific was able to capitalize on second chance opportunities, outscoring the Eagles 16-2 in that facet. This helped FPU regain the lead in the final three minutes of the fourth quarter and ultimately claim the win.
Up Next
CUI returns home for a PacWest matchup against Point Loma on Thursday, Jan. 20
th at 5:00 PM. The game was originally scheduled for Jan. 1
st, but was postponed due to COVID-19.
Only pre-approved spectators are allowed at this time. Click
HERE for the latest spectator policy.
