COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - The University of Colorado Colorado Springs women's basketball team opened the weekend with a dominating performance against New Mexico Highlands University (1-18, 0-14 RMAC).  The Mountain Lions controlled the entire 40 minutes Friday night in the Gallogly Events Center and put up an astounding 74 points to the Cowgirls' 39, making their overall record 5-15 and conference record 4-10.

The first quarter the Mountain Lions were in control, but let the Cowgirls stay with them.  UCCS played solid defense, but second chance shots kept NMHU in most of the first quarter. The Mountain Lions had a hard time recovering on the pick and roll which is where most of the points came from for NMHU.  End of the first quarter shooting percentage was close for both teams with the Mountain Lions shooting 33.3 percent and Cowgirls at 30.8 percent to make the score 15-10.  

UCCS started to pull away in the end of the second quarter with Bo Shaffer coming in to make some crucial three-pointers to get the momentum going.  The Mountain Lions' solid defense forced 12 turnovers on NMHU where they were able to capitalize, resulting in 17 points off of turnovers. New Mexico Highlands was able to stay in the game by fighting for rebounds on the offensive end where six of their points came from and another 10 from the paint.  The Mountain Lions ended the first half with a nine point lead, 30-21.

In the first half we saw UCCS let NMHU stay in the game, in the second half we saw them take over the game.  The Mountain Lions opened the third quarter with a 15-0 run. Authoritative defense held the Cowgirls to just five points.  The momentum built carried into the fourth quarter and the Mountain Lions came out with an exciting home win.

Caley Barnard played a solid 21 minutes shooting 50 percent from both the field and behind the arc (4-8, 2-4).  Barnard totaled six rebounds for the game and a game high six steals to add to her two assists. Kaity Hovasse helped advance the lead for the Mountain Lions shooting 5-for-8 inside (62.5 percent) and 2-for-2 from downtown tying for the lead in scoring with Abby Feickert at 13 points.  Moore put up eight points and three blocks for the night. Madison Lord started out with a quiet night, but started to heat up in the third quarter shooting 6-for-7 (85.7 percent) to go with her two assists and six rebounds.

Ashley Atone worked hard for the Cowgirls putting up 11 of their 39 points.  Desiree Forster and Kourtney Lewis put work on the defensive end for NMHU with a combined five steals, three and two respectively.

The women's team look for a 2-0 weekend sweep as they take on Colorado State University - Pueblo tomorrow night at 5:30 p.m.  in the Gallogly Events Center.