HONOLULU, Hawai'i – Playing in the first PacWest Conference Championship Game in program history, the Concordia University Irvine women's basketball team proved it belonged on the big stage.
Going toe-to-toe with the top-seeded Azusa Pacific Cougars, CUI settled into a back-and-forth first half and trailed 37-32 at halftime. The Golden Eagles lived at the free throw line (7-for-8) while the Cougars knocked down a few more three-pointers than their counterparts in the first half.
Teagan Thurman kept CUI within striking distance by scoring 12 of her 15 points before the break.
The title game was neck-and-neck until midway through the third quarter, when APU opened up a 15-5 run to move in front. CUI kept pushing to claw back into the contest, but the length of the Cougars slowed down the Golden Eagles in the half-court offense. APU was able to hang on to cement the 76-65 victory to win the automatic bid into the upcoming NCAA DII Tournament.
"It hurts. I know it hurts for them but I'm still proud of this group," said CUI head coach
Christine Collins-Kiernan. "Our goal the last six years has been to get to here (the championship game). Nobody knows a lot about Concordia but I think a lot more people do now."
"Our third quarter has kind of been our Achilies heel all year," added Collins-Kiernan. "The first two games we were really good (in that period) and this time we kind of fell back into that third quarter not being the greatest for us. Once we settled ourselves down and be in attack mode, it got us back in the game."
In her last game,
Jasmine Rachal scored 16 points to lead the CUI offense. In addition to Thurman's 15 points,
Savannah Felix-Amoroso supplied 13 points off the bench.
Rachal and Thurman were each named to the All-Tournament Team for their outstanding efforts.
One day after scoring a team-high 21 points in the semifinal win over Dominican, CUI graduate student
Katie Timmerman combined with fellow guard
Kendall Jackson for 10 points and 10 rebounds.
The loss brings CUI's record for the season to 19-10. In addition to winning their first two playoff games in the conference tournament and advancing to the title game for the first time, this year included a historic 11-game winning streak, which was the longest in the NCAA DII era for the CUI women's basketball program.
"I wanted to win not for me or for Concordia, but I really wanted to win for them," said Collins-Kiernan, motioning to her two team leaders, Rachal and Timmerman. "I know it hurts but I hope that in a few days, they will still be able to look back and say it was worth it, to put their lives on hold and come back for this last year."
"It was worth it," said an emotional Rachal, immediately after hearing her coach share those words.
CLICK HERE for the emotional postgame interviews from Coach Collins-Kiernan, Timmerman and Rachal
"We felt really good coming into this and it hurts," added Rachal. "Credit to (APU) and congrats to them."
CLICK HERE for the full CUI women's basketball schedule
