AMARILLO, Texas – The University of Colorado Colorado Springs will continue a historic season in the 2015 NCAA Division II Women's Basketball Tournament in a First Round game against Colorado State-Pueblo, at 1:30 p.m., MDT on Friday. Action will take place at the First United Bank Center on the campus of West Texas A&M.
UCCS and CSU-Pueblo are separated by 48 miles, but the Mountain Lions will be 380 miles from campus for the NCAA First Round. The teams split their regular season series in the RMAC with each team winning at home, but UCCS missed All-RMAC First Team student-athlete
Brittany Hernandez in the road loss in February.
The Mountain Lions are making their first ever trip to the national tournament, while CSU-Pueblo is making its sixth. The ThunderWolves lone win in the national postseason came when CSU-Pueblo was the No. 7 seed and defeated No. 2 seed Wayne (Neb.) State in 2010 in Durango, Colo. UCCS will be the upper seed in the 2/7 matchup on Friday.
RMAC Player of the Year
Abby Kirchoff is leading the top scoring offense in the conference with an RMAC-leading 19.8 points per game, and teammate Hernandez is third with 17 points per game. Kirchoff has a program-record 583 points this season and 1,901 points in her career.
Hernandez is fourth in program history with 492 points this season and needs six rebounds to tie the season rebounding record of 263. She is leading the RMAC by more than a rebound per game with 8.9 this season, is shooting a conference-best 49.2 percent from the field and is second in the conference with 1.9 blocked shots per game, one spot behind CSU-Pueblo's Katie Nehf.
Even if the national postseason is a first for UCCS, it's a familiar feeling for UCCS Head Coach
Shawn Nelson. He led Carroll College to the NAIA national tournament nine times, including a national quarterfinal appearance in the 2007-08 season. He won his 250th game as a college coach in the RMAC Quarterfinals on March 3.
Fans can follow the game for free with live stats, live audio and live video. A watch party will be available on the UCCS campus at Clyde's.
