UCCS suffers gut-wrenching loss to Mines
COLORADO SPRINGS - With the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference playoffs less than a week away a gut-check can sometimes be more useful than a win - the Mountain Lions sure hope this sentiment holds true in the coming days.
Despite 17 points apiece from Jessica and Danielle Brown the University of Colorado Colorado Springs couldn't out-gun the Colorado School of Mines as they fell 73-71 Saturday evening at the Gallogly Events Center.
UCCS sported a different starting-lineup due to senior-night that showcased the class of 2012 - Jessica Brown, Danielle Brown, Ashley Miller andPayden Ackerman.
Horrible shooting marred the early going of the first-half with UCCS making just 2 of their first 14 shots for a miserable 14 percent from the field. Then when you factor in the Angie Charchalis show -- who brought her talents to Colorado Springs Friday evening with 15 points at halftime -- it became a half the Mountain Lions would like to forget about.
However, poor free throw shooting by UCCS - 8 of 17 -- turned out to be the difference at the break.
Colorado Mines grabbed their largest lead of the first-half on a Charchalis 3-pointer that made for a 17-point Oredigger advantage at the 5:37 mark.
The second-half saw UCCS fall behind 50-38 at the 10:46 following a 10-0 run by Colorado Mines. The resilient Mountain Lions battled back though and closed the gap to just three following a pair of Danielle Brown 3-pointers, making the score 68-65 with 1:52 remaining.
For a moment it seemed like Jessica Brown wanted to extend her last regular season when she made a pair of free throws down the down the stretch to tie it at 71-71.
Fittingly though, Charchalis finished what she in large part started with a game-winning layup that put the Orediggers up for good 73-71.
Charchalis finished the night with 31 points to lead all scorers, including an impressive 5 of 10 from 3-point territory.
Ten different Mountain Lions scored in this contest including Lauren Wolfinger (9), Jeri Pikul (9) and Sammi Gentile (6).
Tory Langas contributed a double-double with 16 points and 12 rebounds for the Orediggers who improved to 12-16 overall and 11-11 RMAC.
UCCS ends their regular season with a 15-12 overall record and an 11-11 RMAC record.
UCCS will be traveling to their RMAC playoff game Feb. 28 as they look to advance deep in the tournament.
UCCS Players/Staff Featured | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Danielle Brown | 21 | G | Jr. |
 | Danielle Brown | 21 | G | Sr. |
| Additional News Stories | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| March 5, 2012 |  | Senior Jessica Brown named to RMAC Shootout All-Tourney Team | Senior Jessica Brown was named to the RMAC Shootout All-Tournament team, the conference announced this weekend. Brown scored 16 points against CSU-Pueblo in the opening round victory over the Thunderwolves and followed that up with 13 against Fort Lewis in the Final Four. |
| March 2, 2012 |  | UCCS to take on Fort Lewis tonight in RMAC Shootout Final Four | GAME PREVIEW: When college basketball teams get to March, it's not always about who's played well since November, but who's peaking at the right time. |
| February 29, 2012 | Spirit Bus Headed to Pueblo for RMAC Shootout | ATTENTION UCCS Women's Basketball Fans: | |
| February 28, 2012 |  | Lady Mountain Lions dominate second half, beat CSU-Pueblo to advance in RMAC Tournament | PUEBLO, CO: The Mountain Lion fans who had the pleasure of watching UCCS take down rival CSU-Pueblo at Massari Arena on Tuesday night won’t soon forget the masterful comeback orchestrated by the Mountain Lion Seniors. |
| February 28, 2012 |  | RMAC All-Conference basketball teams announced | The UCCS basketball teams completed the regular season and both teams has players who received post season, all-conference honors. |
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