COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The University of Colorado Colorado Springs women's basketball team will wrap up the nonconference slate with a pair of NAIA teams in the Colorado State-Pueblo Thanksgiving Classic on Friday and Saturday. The Mountain Lions (5-1) will take on Wayland Baptist (3-0) on Friday at 5 p.m., and Morningside (5-1) on Saturday at 3 p.m.
UCCS is 3-1 to start a season for the fourth time in the last six seasons. The Mountain Lions started the season 3-0 for the first time since the 2007-08 season, but fell on Sunday afternoon in a 70-66 loss at Texas Woman's. UCCS dropped from fourth to sixth in the regional media poll, but is still second among RMAC teams.
Jen Vigil scored 13 points in the final six minutes in Sunday's game and finished with 17. She is leading the team with 13.8 points per season and is No. 10 in the conference. Vigil is also leading the RMAC with 3.8 steals per game, second with 2.5 made three-pointers per game, seventh with 4.3 assists per game, eighth with 1.9 assist-to-turnover ratio and No. 10 with 51.3 percent from the field. Her steals per game are also No. 17 in Division II this season.
Anna Schwecke and
Tori Fisher are first and second in the RMAC, respectively, as the best field goal shooters this season. Schwecke is making 73 percent of her shots and Fisher is making 66 percent of her shots. The two are short of meeting the NCAA minimum of five made field goals per game, but Schwecke would rank fourth in the nation and Fisher would be no. 13 if they did meet the minimum.
UCCS is leading the RMAC and No. 23 in Division II with 38.8 percent at the three-point line, with Vigil shooting 45.5 percent from beyond the arc. She is No. 10 in the conference, and seventh if only those with a minimum five made three-pointers are included. The Mountain Lions are second in the RMAC with 70.8 points per game and leads the conference with 44.8 percent field goal shooting.
Wayland Baptist is No. 22 in the NAIA Division I National Poll and is coming off an appearance at the 2016 national tournament. The Queens have a 63-49 win against Eastern New Mexico, but has two exhibition losses against two historically strong NCAA Division II South Central Region teams in West Texas A&M and defending national champion Lubbock Christian. Maci Merket is leading the Queens with 12.3 points per game and 12.3 rebounds per game.
Morningside made a run to the quarterfinals of the NAIA Division II National Tournament last season and is No. 4 in the national preseason polls this season. The Mustangs started the season 5-0 before a one-point loss to Northwestern of Iowa on Tuesday night. Morningside averages 84.7 points per game this season, led by Madison Braun's 18.7 points per game.
Mac Buckley will provide the play-by-play for both games this weekend on the UCCS Athletic Network. Live video and stats will be available through Colorado State-Pueblo, and live updates and postgame analysis from the coaches and student-athletes will be posted on the team's Twitter feed, @UCCSWBB.
