ANN ARBOR, Mich. – The Madonna University women's basketball team traveled down the road to Concordia University to take on the Cardinals. The Crusaders saw an early deficit and were able to turn it into a comeback bid that ultimately saw the Blue and Gold fall short by a score of 76-66.

The Crusaders are now 5-22 and 3-16 in the conference, with one game remaining,  while the Cardinals record improves to 17-11 and 11-8 in conference play.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• Concordia got out to a quick 9-0 run on a couple of baskets before the Crusaders were able to break the drought on a Megan Aho layup. Claire LeRoux was able to hit a three and a two-point basket as the Cardinals ended the quarter on a 12-5 run. LeRoux led the Crusaders in the quarter with five points. 
• Naomi Davis got the scoring started for the Blue and Gold with a three-point basket. Paige Boden and Aho hit back to back shots to bring the game to within 10. Both teams went back and forth for the rest of the quarter before Victoria Guardiola hit three free throws to end the half. Davis led the Crusaders in the quarter with five points. 
• The Crusaders were able to make their comeback push as they outscored the Cardinals by seven. The Cardinals started out scoring the first five before Boden was able to score six of the next eight Crusader points. A basket from Aho with 1:02 remaining saw the Concordia led get within four points. The Crusaders rallied at the end of a quarter with a 6-2 run with baskets from Boden, Aho, and LeRoux. Boden led the Crusaders in the quarter with ten points. 
• Both teams started the quarter by scoring back and forth as the scoring difference was kept within eight points. Davis then scored five straight to bring the score within three. The Crusaders were forced to foul to try and get close but the Cardinals closed out hitting all eight of their last free throws. Davis led the Crusaders in the quarter with nine points. 

INSIDE THE NUMBERS:

• 4: The Crusaders had four players that tallied double digits: Boden and Davis with 16, LeRoux with 15, and Aho with 12. 
• 29: The Crusaders finished with 29 rebounds including 5 offensive and 24 defensive rebounds, leading the Crusaders was Aho with nine rebounds. While the Cardinals recorded 42 rebounds including 15 offensive and 27 defensive rebounds and were led by Katie Snow with 10 rebounds.
• 28: The Blue and Gold were able to take advantage of the Cardinals 21 mishaps as they scored 28 points off of their turnovers.
• 43.4: Madonna shot the ball at a 43.4% clip in the evening while the Warriors shot 40.7%.

UP NEXT:

• The Crusaders return home for the final game of the 2020 season as they will take on UM-Dearborn on Saturday, February 22 with a 1 PM tip.
• Live coverage will be available via the Madonna Athletics Network at mucrusaders.com/live

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