RIVER FOREST, ILL. — Finals week is here at Concordia University Chicago (CUC), but both basketballs are still in action and indoor track and field kicked off their 2024-25 campaign.

Women's Basketball (1-4, 0-1)

Conference play resumed for women's basketball this weekend when they traveled to St. Norbert College (SNC) on Saturday. Unfortunately, CUC fell 69-43. 

Three Cougars scored a team-leading seven points: Sydney Nimsakont (Glendale Heights, Ill.), Nazuri Whigham (Naperville, Ill.), and Grace King (Fairland, Ind.). Aniyah Hinton-Henry (Gary, Ind.) led the squad in rebounds with four.

The team now has the week off before they resume action on December 17 when they travel to Concordia University Wisconsin. 

Men's Basketball (4-3, 2-1)

Conference play also resumed for men's basketball this week.

First, they lost to the number-nine team in the country, Wisconsin Lutheran College, 91-67 on Wednesday. Jacob Collicott (Lafayette, Ind.) put up 13 points and 17 rebounds; the 17 boards was a career-high for the senior. Collicott also added seven assists and three steals. Darrian Williams (Garland, Texas) and Joel Watts (Homewood, Ill.) also hit double-digit points with 10 each. 

The Cougars rebounded on Saturday when they took down Edgewood College 74-61. Sean Beckman (Hoffman Estates, Ill.) led the way this time, dropping a 18-point, 12-rebound double-double. Collicott was close to a double-double as well with 12 points and eight rebounds; he also had a pair of blocks, five assists, and four steals. Williams joined Beckman and Collicott in double-digit points with 12 of his own.

It is rematch time this week when the Cougars travel to SNC on Saturday, Dec. 14, at 1 p.m. SNC is the squad who knocked the Cougars out of the Northern Athletic Collegiate Conference tournament last season. 

Track and Field

Indoor season is here for track and field, and they kicked it off with a trip to the ONU Holiday Open on Saturday.

On the men's team, Darius Strother (Joliet, Ill.) took home gold in the high jump with a 1.78 meter leap. Austin Knight (Forest Park, Ill.) took second in the same event and also bronze medaled in the 200m dash. Then, multiple players finished top-five in their respective events, including Randle Bills in the 200m, Miguel Sanchez (San Antonio, Texas) and Nathaniel Hernandez in the 800m, and Jayden Taylor (Southfield, Mich.) in the long jump. 

Noor Sammour (Berwyn, Ill.) was the highest finisher on the women's side, finishing second in the high jump. Two Cougars earned bronze medals, including Eve Shelton (St. Louis, Mo.) in the 60m hurdles and Izzy Fairless (Royal Oak, Mich.) in the mile. Rounding out top-five finishes for CUC was Tegan Oas (Shingle Springs, Calif.) in the 800m run, Harmonie Cooper (Chicago, Ill.) in the high jump, and Velda Ndang in the shot put.  

Track and field gets a lengthy break now before they resume competition on January 10, 2025, at the Cardinal Opener.