Blackout Night crowd gets the assist in big victory over Colorado Christian

COLORADO SPRINGS â€" Five Mountain Lions scored in double figures on Blackout Night at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, but the assist definitely went to the crowd.

Jazzmin Awa-Williams (18), Nancy Hoist (17), Mallory Lowe (16), Janean Jubic (14) and Payden Ackerman (14) all reached double digits at UCCS ended its six-game losing streak with a 79-65 victory over the Colorado Christian Cougars Saturday evening.

A school-record crowd of 481 crammed into, around and overflowed UCCSâ€^TM tiny Lionsâ€^TM Den. Many of those stood most of the game.

“The crowd was probably the driving force behind our win,” said Ackerman, whose 35 3-pointers this season puts her tied for fourth on the all-time UCCS list for freshmen. “Yeah, we did the things we were supposed to do, but having a crowd like this made you want to play for them. Every time we scored, they went nuts.”

The Mountain Lions improved to 5-8 in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play and 7-14 overall.

Jodie Krall led Colorado Christian (11-10, 7-6 RMAC) with 19 points. Abby Rosenthal added 17 points and a game-high 12 rebounds.

It was the first time this season that five Mountain Lions had scored in double figures in the same game. UCCS had four players score in double digits twice (Nov. 28 vs. Newman and Jan. 17 vs. Western State).

UCCS won despite shooting just 34.3 percent from the field and being outrebounded 42-36. In the Mountain Lionsâ€^TM favor was a huge 70-45 advantage in field goal attempts, due mostly to a 28-11 advantage in turnovers. It was the most turnovers forced by UCCS this season as well as tied for the fewest allowed.

“I wish I could tell you it was something that we did,” said Caldwell said of the turnover differential. “We do emphasize over and over the value of the basketball.”

Awa-Williams grabbed eight rebounds for UCCS, while Janean Jubic handed out a season-high seven assists.

After leading by as many as 10 in the first half, UCCS saw its seven-point halftime lead quickly shrink to two in the opening minutes of the second period. That lead dipped to one twice and was sitting at three with 5:18 remaining when Jubic drilled a 3-pointer that started a 10-2 UCCS run that made it 65-54.

“Iâ€^TMm proud of our kids,” said Caldwell. “When you go on a six-game losing streak, itâ€^TMs hard to continue to stay positive. I think, with the help of the crowd, they were energized and ready to go.

“The crowd tonight was just fantastic.”