SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – The Concordia University Irvine women's basketball team defeated Academy of Art on Sunday afternoon by a score of 62-57, improving to 13-7 (10-4) on the season. With the win, the Eagles fly past Biola to claim the second spot in the PacWest standings, now trailing only Azusa Pacific.
 
VanderKlugt's 2,000^th Point
 
5^th year starter Michaela VanderKlugt claimed her 2,000^th career point on Sunday, becoming just the second player in CUI history and the third player in PacWest history to ever reach that mark. Point number 2,000 came in the middle of the 3^rd quarter, when VanderKlugt drained a free throw with 4:19 on the clock to tie the game at 32-32.
 

"Our staff knew to turn Concordia around, we needed to build from freshmen up and allow kids to get an opportunity to grow," said CUI head coach Christine Collins-Kiernan. "Michaela has flourished in having to anchor us in scoring and rebounding every year, but she has also been surrounded by great talent and teammates who consistently make her job easier and she produces in those moments. Her career is one for the ages and I am grateful to have been a very small part of it."

 
 

VanderKlugt's Year-By-Year Scoring
Year	Points
2017-18	412
2018-19	444
2019-20	504
2020-21	255
2021-22	393
Total	2,008

 

TWO THOUSAND POINTS! Congratulations to Michaela VanderKlugt on becoming just the second player in @cuiwbasketball history and the third player in @ThePacWest history to ever reach 2,000 points ?? pic.twitter.com/pkYv1IsvhR

— CUI Athletics (@cuieagles) February 7, 2022

VanderKlugt has been tearing apart record books as of late, recently claiming both the CUI and PacWest rebound record earlier this season. Despite already cementing herself in both the school and conference record books, VanderKlugt now looks to achieve one final milestone: becoming the all-time scorer.
 
The Concord, Calif. native needs 161 more points to break the all-time PacWest scoring record, and 170 to break the all-time CUI scoring record. Gitte Mejer (1990-1994) currently holds the points record for Concordia at 2,177. Since CUI didn't join the PacWest until the 2015-2016 season, the all-time PacWest record belongs to Cassidy Mihalko (2013-2017) of California Baptist with 2,168.

 

CUI Career Points
	Player	Points
1.	Gitte Mejer	2,177
2.	Michaela VanderKlugt	2,008

 

 

PacWest Career Points
	Player	Points
1.	Cassidy Mihalko (CBU)	2,168
2.	Samantha Murphy (GCU)	2,147
3.	Michaela VanderKlugt	2,008

 
The Game
 
The Green & Gold fell behind in the first half, trailing the Urban Knights 23-19 at the end of the second quarter. However, the Eagles would prove resilient as they outscored Art U 43-34 in the second half to make up the deficit. CUI was able to separate themselves by scoring eight points off turnovers and 16 points on second chance opportunities. Capitalizing on those scoring opportunities ultimately allowed the Eagles to come away with a 62-57 win.
 
VanderKlugt's 2,000^th point was part of a 27-point performance, also including 13 rebounds, two assists and a steal. Jasmine Rachal, Katie Timmerman, and Samantha Fries combined to score 28 more points for Concordia, many of which came in the second half. Fries also recorded seven rebounds in the game, finishing the week with an impressive 29 rebounds and 35 points over her last three games.
 
Eagles return to CU Arena on Wednesday, Feb. 9^th, at 5:00 PM for a PacWest matchup against Fresno Pacific.
 
Up to 500 fans will be allowed inside CU Arena.CLICK HERE for the updated CUI Athletics Spectator Policy
 
CLICK HERE for the full CUI women's basketball schedule