Mountain Lions D does it again

For the second straight night the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs' pressure defense frustrated its opponent. Not coincidentally, for the second straight night, the Mountain Lions won by double digits. CU-Colorado Springs held Grand Canyonâ€^TMs powerful offense to 27 percent to shooting in a 58-37 spanking of the Lopes Wednesday evening in the Lionsâ€^TM Den.

The win comes on the heels of a 65-42 win over Colorado College Tuesday night. Much like they did Tuesday against the Tigers, the Mountain Lions completely took Grand Canyon out of its offense.

The Lopes came into the game shooting a gaudy 44.4 percent on 3-pointers, and were coming off a 72-68 victory over CSU-Pueblo Tuesday night where they were 9-of-12 from behind the arc.

But Wednesday, the Lopes were a paltry 1-for-12 on 3-pointers with many of their misses barely drawing iron.

“We were able to extend our defense and take away the perimeter,” said Mountain Lion coach Marty Fletcher. “We have always made that a point of emphasis.”

Rebounding was another key to the Mountain Lions' success as they held a 44-36 advantage on the boards. Emily Jenkins was again an absolute monster on the glass, with a game-high 11 rebounds (four offensive).

Jenkins also had a career-high 13 points on 6-for-10 shooting and four steals. Lindsay Arnoldus had a career-high six assists to go along with her nine points.

“(Arnoldus) had a fine game,” said Fletcher. “Maribeth (Martinez) and Nicole (Opferman) also did a great job off the bench for us.”

The game started off at a snail's pace as both teams traded early turnovers. The Mountain Lions held a slim 7-5 lead with 14:04 to go in opening half before going on 18-4 to run to go 25-9.

Grand Canyon went on a mini run at the end of the half and cut the lead to 27-17 with 18 seconds remaining and it seemed as though the Lopes would head into the locker room with the momentum. But the CU-Colorado Springs changed all that when they got a huge play from a freshman.

Stephanie Sauter canned a 3-pointer from the left corner as time expired in the half that seemed to demoralize the Lopes. The Mountain Lions pushed their lead to as many as 24 points in the second half.

The game may have been a different story had Grand Canyon shot better from the free-throw line. The Lopes were just 10-for-24 on free throws and missed several front-ends of one-and-one bonus opportunities.