GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – The University of Colorado Colorado Springs women's basketball team will continue its record-breaking season with an RMAC semifinal contest against Colorado Christian at 5 p.m., at Brownson Arena on the campus of Colorado Mesa. The Mountain Lions (24-5) are playing for their first conference championship game appearance in program history against the Cougars (15-7).
UCCS is in the conference semifinals for the fourth time in program history and the first time since 2012. The Mountain Lions advanced after a 90-72 win against Regis in the quarterfinals on Tuesday night and continued to increase its program-record win total to 24 victories.
RMAC Player of the Year
Abby Kirchoff broke the program season scoring record in the game and increased her new record to 574 points. She is threatening the RMAC career record with 1,892 points and is just more than 100 points away from the record of 1,996 points set by Regis' Diana Lopez. Kirchoff likely has at least two more games left in her career between the semifinals and the opening round of the national tournament next week.
The Mountain Lions have surpassed 90 points in six games this season and leads the conference 77.5 points per game. In addition to Kirchoff's conference-leading 19.8 points per game,
Brittany Hernandez is third in the league with 17.2 points per game.
Hernandez leads the RMAC in rebounds and field goal percentage. She is 11 rebounds away from tying the program season record set by Tara Newton in the 1991-92 season. Hernandez had 14 rebounds in the first meeting with Colorado Christian on Jan. 17.
The Cougars enter the game on a six-game winning streak after starting the season with an eight-game losing streak. They use a balanced scoring offense with four student-athletes in double figures, led by Kate Louthan's 12.7 points per game. Colorado Christian was the runner-up in the conference tournament in 2013 as the No. 6 seed, and defeated UCCS in the quarterfinal game in that tournament.
Fans can follow the game for free with live stats and live audio through GoMountainLions.com. A live watch party with both men's and women's games will also be available in Clyde's in the University Center. Live video streaming through America One Sports is available for $9 per game.
