Records fall in win over Johnson & Wales

DENVER â€" So this is what this feels like.

Sixteen new career highs were set by University of Colorado at Colorado Springs players as the Mountain Lions pounded the Johnson & Wales Wildcats 85-36 Monday night at the Wildcat Center. The 49-point win was the third-largest victory margin ever by a CU-Colorado Springs womenâ€^TMs basketball team.

CU-Colorado Springs beat Colorado School of Mines by 57 points in 1994 and Colorado College by 51 points in 1994.

For longtime CU-Colorado Springs fans, the blasting of the first-year Wildcats brought back eerie memories. In CU-Colorado Springsâ€^TM first season, six teams beat the then-Gold by 40 points or more.

Stephanie Sauter led the precedent-setting onslaught by recording 18 points, seven assists, six rebounds, five steals and a block. All of those numbers established new career highs for the freshman.

Caroline Ottino (11), Dolly Fiedelman (10) and Crystal Armendarez (nine) each set new career highs for points scored. Ottino (eight), Fiedelman (five) and Maribeth Martinez (two) all set new personal bests in rebounds. New assists marks were set by Martinez (three) and senior Nicole Opferman (six). Martinez set a new high with eight steals, while Fiedelman (four) and Ottino (two) also reached new steals marks.

Most of the new marks came thanks to coach Marty Fletcher, who used the game to get his bench extensive playing time. No CU-Colorado Springs starter played more than seven minutes.

“It was good to get the playing time,” said Sauter, a reserve, who then deadpanned, “it might get us back in shape.”

The Mountain Lions opened the game by making four of their first five shots, all 3-pointers. Deft shooting and CU-Colorado Springsâ€^TM trademark suffocating defense had the lead expanded to 28-1 by midway through the first half. By that time, all of the Mountain Lionsâ€^TM starters were on the bench for the duration.

Johnson & Wales finally scored its first field goal with 8:53 left in the first period and trailed 52-12 at the half.

“We played really hard defense the first half,” said Sauter. “We kind of broke down in the second half and let them score more than we wanted.”

Despite failing in their goal to hold the Wildcats under 20 points, the Mountain Lions still managed to accomplish plenty. Besides all of the personal bests, the 85-point total was the most points scored by CU-Colorado Springs since 2001. The Mountain Lions forced an astounding 39 turnovers, 26 of which came by way of steals. They also passed well, recording 27 assists on their 36 field goals.

“We showed a lot of effort,” said Sauter. “We played hard the entire game. Plus we got our starters rest for the upcoming road trip.”

They also chased away some old memories.