UCCS (12-11, 11-6 RMAC) vs. CSU-Pueblo (13-10, 11-6 RMAC) | Friday, Feb. 15 | 5:30 p.m. | Live Stats | Video
UCCS vs. New Mexico Highlands (4-20, 2-15 RMAC) | Saturday, Feb. 16 | 5:30 p.m. | Live Stats | Video
 
THIS WEEK
The University of Colorado Colorado Springs women's basketball team will play their final two home games of the regular season this weekend against Colorado State-Pueblo and New Mexico Highlands University.  The Mountain Lions will tip-off against the ThunderWolves on Friday at 5:30 p.m., and against the Cowgirls on Saturday at 5:30 p.m.
 
SENIOR NIGHT
Following Saturday's game, the Mountain Lions will recognize their three seniors: Jae Ferrin, Emily Seifert and Kelly O'Flannigan.

ABOUT THE MOUNTAIN LIONS
The Mountain Lions are on a four-game winning streak and are tied for third place in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference with an 11-6 league record (12-11 overall).  UCCS is tied with Colorado School of Mines and CSU-Pueblo. 
 
The Mountain Lions earned two wins at home this past weekend against MSU Denver (84-69) and Chadron State College (80-45).  UCCS won by an average of 25 points against the Roadrunners and Eagles and have defeated their opponents by an average of 22.75 points in their last four games.
 
UCCS has remained at or above the .500 mark in conference games this season and have either swept or split all eight back-to-back RMAC series.
 
The Mountain Lions rank in the top half of the league in several statistical categories, including assists (third, 14.6), rebound margin (fourth, +4.1), blocked shots (fifth, 3.3), free throw percentage (sixth, 71.2 percent), rebounding offense (third, 38.7), and three-point field goal percentage (fourth, 35.3 percent).
 
Madi Gaibler and Ferrin lead the Mountain Lions offense with 7.7 points per game.  Gaibler is shooting the ball at a team high 48.6 percent after making 69-of-152 field goals.  Thirty-four of Ferrin's team high 100 rebounds have come on the offensive glass.  Ferrin is snagging 4.8 rebounds per game and has added 38 assists, 16 steals and blocked 10 shots.
   
O'Flannigan has dished out 65 assists this season, the 13^th highest average in the league (2.8).
 
Seifert and Anna Davern have combined to block 32 shots.
 
Chelsea Pearson has made a team high 42 three-pointers.  She has registered 10 games of at least three three-pointers made.  In the last seven games, she has sunk at least three treys in each game, including six three's against Chadron State this past Saturday night.  In that seven-game span, Pearson is averaging four three's per game, and has made 12 against the Eagles in both games this season.  She has made 43.8 percent from behind the arc, sinking 42-of-96.
  
AWARD WINNERS
Gaibler was been named this week's RMAC Women's Basketball Offensive Player of the Week.  On Friday against the Roadrunners, Gaibler scored a career high 29 points after making 12-of-16 field goals and 5-of-6 free throws.  In the second half, Gaibler made 7-of-8 field goals and 1-of-2 free throws for 15 points while dishing out two assists. She followed that performance with 13 points, eight rebounds and three assists in a 35-point win over Chadron State on Saturday.  In the two wins, Gaibler shot 64 percent from the floor (16-of-25) and 87.5 percent from the free throw line (7-of-8).
 
Nine student-athletes earned 2018-19 RMAC All-Academic honors, announced last week by the conference office.  Abby Feickert (4.00 GPA, Exercise Science) has been voted to the first team and teammates Caley Barnard (3.805 GPA, Biology), Madi Gaibler (3.347 GPA, Accounting), Maddie Golla (3.733 GPA, Biology), Kelly O'Flannigan (3.758 GPA, Accounting), Chelsea Pearson (3.758 GPA, Marketing), Joey Sale (3.728 GPA, Business Administration), Bo Shaffer (3.675 GPA, Biochemistry) and Tatum Tellin (3.800 GPA, Communications) earned RMAC All-Academic Honor Roll accolades.


LAST TIME OUT
Gaibler hit 12 field goals as part of her career high 29 points Friday night to lead UCCS to an 84-69 win over MSU Denver in Gallogly Events Center. 
 
The Mountain Lions 84 points are the most scored by UCCS this season.  UCCS missed only one free throw shot on 12 attempts.  The Roadrunners attempted 10 more free throws, making 18-of-22.
 
Gaibler, who also attempted a season high 16 shots, finished the game scoring 24 points from the floor and 5-of-6 from the free throw line.  Pearson made 4-of-8 from behind the arc and 4-for-4 from the free throw line to finish with 18 points.  She added five rebounds (all defensive), two assists and a steal. 
Caley Barnard was solid from the floor as she tallied 10 points after making 5-of-8 field goals. Tatum Tellin came off the bench to register 13 points, nine of which came from downtown.  Tellin also dished out a team high five assists.  Gaibler and Tellin combined to score all 42 of UCCS' bench points. 
 
The following night against Chadron State, UCCS notched their fourth consecutive win with an 80-45 victory.

The Mountain Lions were backed by Pearson's 21 points as she shot 60 percent from beyond the arc with six three-pointers.  Ferrin registered 18 points of her own, as Gaibler and Tellin bagged eight and nine rebounds, respectively.

As a team, UCCS finished with a 46.2 field goal percentage while the Mountain Lion bench contributed 29 points in their 35-point win.

SCOUTING COLORADO STATE-PUEBLO
The ThunderWolves enter the weekend on a two-game winning streak and are 13-10 overall this season.  CSU-Pueblo is netting 66.4 points per game and making 41.2 percent of their shots.  They are 7-4 on the road this season, compared to a 5-5 home record.
 
CSU-Pueblo is led by Jennah Knafelc and Khiya Adams who are averaging 14.4 and 12.2 points per game, respectively.  Knafelc ranks fifth in the league in scoring and Adams is 12^th overall.  Adams also owns the third best field goal shooting percentage, sinking 52.5 percent from the floor, and is fifth in the league in blocks (1.0 per game). Knafelc ranks fourth in the league in steals (2.1), three-pointers made (2.5) and assist/turnover ratio (1.2).

SCOUTING NEW MEXICO HIGHLANDS UNIVERSITY
New Mexico Highlands owns a 4-20 overall record and are tied with Adams State for 15^th place in the standings.  NMHU is on a seven-game losing streak and are 2-9 when playing on the road.  The Cowgirls are netting nearly 52 points per game and are getting outscored by more than 20 points per contest.
 
Jordyn Lewis leads NMHU with 13.9 points per game.  She is hitting 89.2 percent of her free throws (66-of-74) and has nailed 56 treys.  Allyah George is second on the team in scoring with 11 points per game and has brought down a team high 142 rebounds. 

HEAD COACH LYNN PLETT
After the first RMAC championship in program history in his first season in 2016-17, Lynn Plett returns for his third year on the sideline for the University of Colorado Colorado Springs. He guided the Mountain Lions to the RMAC Tournament Championship in 2017 and the third straight NCAA Tournament appearance.

In the 2017-18 season, Plett coached All-RMAC honorable mention Shanah Leaf as well as five Mountain Lions who received honors on the RMAC All-Academic team. Last season proved to be a rebuilding year for the Mountain Lions as they lost three starting seniors while adding six new players to the roster. UCCS finished the season with an overall 10-17 record with a 10-12 conference record, which placed the Mountain Lions 10th in the RMAC conference.

Plett coached two All-RMAC First Team student-athletes for the 2016-17 season in Brittany Hernandez and Tori Fisher. The Mountain Lions tied for second in the RMAC standings and won the tournament with the best defensive performance in championship game history in a 53-37 victory against Regis. UCCS advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament in its furthest postseason run since 2015.

Plett spent four seasons at Northern Kentucky, where the Norse qualified for the Women's Basketball Invitational postseason tournament each season during the transition from NCAA Division II to Division I. Prior to NKU, he spent five seasons as the head coach at Missouri Western State University in St. Joseph, Mo. Plett served as the head coach at Lewis University in Romeoville, Ill. from 2002 through 2007.  Plett entered Division II coaching at Saint Joseph's College in Rensselaer, Ind., in 1994, where he also doubled as the athletic director.
 
UP NEXT
UCCS will play their final three games of the regular season on the road, beginning Feb 22-23 at South Dakota School of Mines and Black Hills State University.