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CSU Pueblo Athletics

Strong Start by Women’s Basketball Falls Short in Second Half at BHSU, 58-42

12/3/2022 7:23:00 PM

Box Score SPEARFISH, S.D. – Emporia State University jumped to a 7-0 run over the University of Colorado Colorado Springs women's basketball team, and the Mountain Lions were unable to recover as they fell to the Hornets, 80-64, at the Colorado State University Pueblo Thanksgiving Classic.
 
INSIDE THE MATCHUP
  • Final: UCCS 42, Black Hills State 58
  • Records: UCCS (1-7, 0-2 RMAC) | BHSU (7-1, 2-0 RMAC)
  • Facility | Location:  Donald Young Center | Spearfish, S.D.
  • All-Time Series: The Mountain Lions hold an 11-10 all-time lead over the YellowJackets, but BHSU has won the last five matchups.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
  • The Mountain Lions controlled the first possession after winning the jump ball, but a turnover put the ball into the YellowJackets hands.  BHSU missed their first shot attempt that resulted in Amyah Moore Allen driving the lane to hit a pull-up jumper for a 2-0 UCCS lead.  Maison White collected an offensive rebound from Moore Allen's field goal and made the put-back layup to give UCCS a 4-2 lead.  Gracie Haneborg put her name in the stat sheet with a layup after a BHSU missed a field goal to extend UCCS' lead to 6-2.  The YellowJackets came down the court on the next possession to drain a three and cut into the lead, 6-5.  Sophie Abela extended the Mountain Lions lead back to 8-5 when she spotted up to hit a jumper on the left side.  After a YellowJackets bucket, Abela brought the lead back to three, 10-7, after making 2-of-3 free throws when she was fouled on a shot from downtown.  BHSU was able to tie the game 12-12 to end the first period.
  • The Mountain Lions made 5-of-13 from the floor in the first period and held BHSU to 4-of-18, but the YellowJackets turned four Mountain Lion turnovers into five points.  UCCS outrebounded BHSU in the first quarter, 13-11, 10 of which came on the offensive glass.
  • The tides changed in favor of the home team in the second stanza as the YellowJackets outscored the Mountain Lions, 21-9.  Abela hit a layup from Sydney Nilles' dime to break the 12-12 tie in favor of UCCS, 14-12.  Black Hills State took their first lead of the night on the ensuing trip down the court when Megan Engesser was fouled on a three-point attempt.  Engesser drained all three free throws to give BHSU a 15-14 lead that also sparked an 11-2 run that featured six free throws by BHSU.  Leading 23-15 halfway through the second half, Moore Allen cut into the YellowJackets lead with her eighth point of the half, but the Yellowjackets went on another double digit run, ending the second quarter outscoring UCCS, 10-3.  Abela netted the final three points for UCCS on a six-foot jumper and a free throw as the Mountain Lions went into halftime trailing BHSU, 33-21.
  • Black Hills State kept their momentum going after the intermission break, hitting five straight points to open the second half.  Each team possessed the ball in the opening minutes of the third quarter before BHSU drained a three-pointer followed by a jumper from former Mountain Lion Ellie Moore.  Abela snapped the 5-0 run with two made free throws, but the home team made a layup on the next trip down the court, followed by a Mountain Lions turnover that ended in a three-pointer to give BHSU a 43-23 lead at the first media timeout of the second half.  The Mountain Lions were held scoreless for nearly seven minutes before netting the final four points of the third stanza.  Farres snagged a steal that she put in for two points before Rylie Ottmann made a cross court pass to Moore Allen on the far left side who drove into the middle of the lane for a pull up jumper to bring UCCS within 20 points after three quarters of action, 47-27.
  • After an opening three-pointer from BHSU, Abela brought down an offensive rebound and put it back for two, followed by two made free throws from Moore Allen as UCCS netted four straight points in the opening two minutes of the final stanza to bring UCCS within 19, 50-31.  Both teams traded baskets on the ensuing possessions with the Mountain Lions scoring the final six points of the game, but the YellowJackets were able to keep their distance from UCCS to secure the home win, 58-42.
 
GAME STATISTICS
  • Moore Allen led all scorers with 17 points on 5-of-12 field goals and 7-of-8 free throws.
  • Abela hit on 4-of-11 from the floor and 3-of-4 free throws for 11 points.  She and White pulled down a game high eight rebounds each.  Abela secured the lone block of the game for the Mountain Lions and added one steal.
  • UCCS shot 31.9 percent from the floor after sinking 15-of-47 field goals.  From the line the Mountain Lions sank 66.7 percent after making 12-of-18.
  • Black Hills State was led in scoring from Morgan Hammerbeck's 16 points and five caroms.
  • As a team, BHSU netted 17-of-58 from the floor (29.3 percent), 8-of-30 from downtown (26.7 percent), and 16-of-20 free throws (80 percent).
  • UCCS outscored the YellowJackets in the paint, 24-18, but 18 Mountain Lion turnovers led to 20 points for BHSU.
           
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
  • Moore Allen and Abela combined for 66.7 percent (28 points) of the Mountain Lions offense tonight.
  • UCCS' 42 points, 15 made field goals, 47 field goals attempted and 31.9 field goal shooting marks were all season lows.
  • Comparatively, the Mountain Lions 58 points allowed marked a season low, as were the 17 made field goals and 29.3 shooting percentage from the YellowJackets.
  • White owns a healthy lead in the RMAC in shooting percentage, making 45-of-74 field goals for 60.8 percent.
  • Abela's 2.5 assist turnover ratio is the second best in the league.
  • Moore Allen's seven made free throws are a career high, and the most made free throws by a Mountain Lion this season.
 
UP NEXT
  • The Mountain Lions will play an exhibition game at Air Force on Wednesday at 6:30.  UCCS will then return home Dec. 9 to start a four-game homestand.  The Mountain Lions will play host to Colorado Mesa University at 5 p.m. on Black Out Night.  The first 1,000 UCCS students to Friday's game will receive a free UCCS Black Out t-shirt.
 
SOCIAL
Twitter - @GoMountainLions
Instagram - @gomountainlions
Facebook – Go Mountain Lions
 
As a member of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, the University of Colorado Colorado Springs competes in 16 varsity sports in NCAA Division II intercollegiate athletics.
 
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