COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The University of Colorado Colorado Springs women's basketball team will have the opportunity to both move up the RMAC standings and expand the Mountain Lions' lead in the Steel & Silver standings when UCCS (15-6, 11-4 RMAC) travels to Colorado State-Pueblo (17-4, 12-3 RMAC) for a Friday night game at Massari Arena. The Mountain Lions will finish the weekend on Saturday at Western State (4-13, 2-13 RMAC) in Paul Wright Gym.
UCCS holds a 20-4 lead in the Steel & Silver standings after the fall sport results. The women's game will be worth four points in the standings since Friday's meeting is the only regular season game between the two schools. The first school to 31 points will clinch the trophy.
The Mountain Lions went 2-1 against CSU-Pueblo last season with each team winning at home, and UCCS winning in the NCAA First Round in Canyon, Texas. UCCS is tied for fourth in the conference standings and one game behind the second place teams of CSU-Pueblo and Black Hills State. The Mountain Lions have won nine of their last 10 games since the start of the New Year, while the ThunderWolves have won six of their last seven home games this season.
Brittany Hernandez is No. 10 in UCCS career scoring records with 943 points and is seventh in Division II with 21.2 points per game this season. She can become the eighth Mountain Lion in program history with 1,000 career points by the end of the season and she would only be the second student-athlete in program history to score 1,000 points in a two-year span.
Abby Kirchoff, the UCCS leader and third in RMAC record books, scored 1,197 points in her final two seasons as a Mountain Lion.
Jen Vigil continues to lead the RMAC with 2.71 steals per game, while Hernandez is second with 2.4 per game. The two have both earned conference player of the week honors this season as the top two scorers for the Mountain Lions this season.
The ThunderWolves have the ninth-best field goal percentage defense in Division II and have held opponents to 34.4 percent. CSU-Pueblo is second in the RMAC with 43.7 rebounds and 3.9 blocked shots per game. The ThunderWolves are sixth in the Division II regional media poll, four spots ahead of the Mountain Lions, and are led by Tuileisu Anderson's 14.5 points per game and Lauren Heyn's 7.4 rebounds per game.
Western State will go into the weekend looking to snap a six-game losing streak. Sophomore Taylor Long is averaging 13.6 points per game and is fourth in the conference with 83.3 percent at the free throw line. The Mountain Lions have won the last seven games against the Mountaineers dating back to the 2009-10 season.
Friday's game against Colorado State-Pueblo will be carried live regionally on Comcast Entertainment Television (xfinity 900). Josh Howe and Joe Cervi will call the game for CET.
