COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The University of Colorado Colorado Springs women's basketball team extend their win streak to 11 games as they defeated the Colorado School of Mines Orediggers in a tight 71-65 win in the opening round of the RMAC tournament Tuesday evening.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP
- Final: UCCS 71, CSM 65
- Records: UCCS (22-7, 18-4 RMAC) | CSM (21-8, 16-6 RMAC)
- Facility | Location: Gallogly Events Center | Colorado Springs, Colo.
- All-Time Series: This was the 46th matchup between the Mountain Lions and Orediggers with UCCS now holding a 24-22 all-time series advantage.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- UCCS started Tuesday night's RMAC tournament opening round attacking from the jump as they went on an 11-4 run including treys from Krystina Hagood and Emily Vidal, both assisted by Briana Knabe. The Mountain Lions defense suffocated the Orediggers in the opening frame as they shot 2-of-16 from the field in the first quarter.
- UCCS closed the first quarter on a 14-3 run where they shot a perfect 5-for-5 from the field including baskets from Amyah Moore Allen, Vidal, Breelyn Robinson, and Jessica Nation. The Mountain Lions would carry an imposing 25-9 lead going into the second quarter.
- CSM started chipping away at their deficit early on and stayed in the game with knock-down free throw shooting in the second quarter. The Orediggers opened with a 9-3 run where they went a perfect 6-of-6 shooting from the charity stripe.
- The Mountain Lions responded to this run with a pair of buckets, but CSM was finding their groove. After nine straight points late in the quarter from the Orediggers, Hagood would silence their momentum by hitting a corner three with the assist coming from Mya Wilson. UCCS would carry a 43-35 lead going into the break.
- Out of the half, CSM caught fire with a 14-5 run in the first three minutes and thirty seconds of the quarter. They made four straight buckets in this stretch and captured their first lead of the night (49-48).
- With over a minute to go in the third quarter, Moore Allen made a tough shot as she was fouled. She would hit the free throw to complete the three-point play to give UCCS a 57-56 lead. CSM replied with a basket of their own and would hold a one-point lead (58-57) going into the final frame.
- To open the fourth quarter, neither team could find a rhythm as the two defenses began to lock in. UCCS went on an 8-4 scoring run where Robinson was crucial in stretch. She scored six of the Mountain Lions eight points in the first five minutes of the quarter to see themselves up 65-62.
- At the 4:06 mark, Oredigger guard Jessica Rios tied up the game (65-65) with a three-pointer proving this game was going to be tight down the stretch. A minute later, Robinson would make a fast break layup through traffic to take the lead (67-65). From then on, the Mountain Lions defense completely shut down the CSM offense.
- The Orediggers did not record a bucket in the last three minutes of the game and UCCS did a great job of keeping them away from the free throw line. With 18 seconds left, Moore Allen would essentially seal the game with a clean euro-step layup to give the Mountain Lions a 69-65 lead. With more stellar defense on the other end, UCCS would secure the rebound and Vidal would sink two free throws to give the Mountain Lions a 71-65 play-off win.
GAME STATISTICS
- Amyah Moore Allen had a fantastic showing tonight as she put up 17 points on 8-of-14 shooting from the field. Moore Allen led all scorers in the game and played lock-down defense as she nabbed a steal and collected two blocks.
- Breelyn Robinson's fourth quarter performance was a huge factor tonight. Robinson scored eight of her 14 points in the final frame as well as eight of the Mountain Lions 14 points in the quarter.
- Free throw shooting was a key factor in tonight's contest as the Orediggers utilized the line to keep themselves in it throughout the game. CSM shot 20-for-24 (83.3 percent) from the charity stripe while the Mountain Lions went just 14-of-21 (66.7 percent) on their free shots.
- Though the Orediggers shot well from the free throw line, the UCCS defense caused them to shoot just 19-of-58 (32.8 percent) from the field while they themselves shot 44.6 percent from the field (25-56) and 50 percent (7-14) beyond the arc.
- The Mountain Lions outpaced the Orediggers in points from turnovers (15-10), points in the paint (32-24), points off of fast breaks (20-7), and points from the bench (48-17).
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- With 10 rebounds in tonight's contest, Maison White has passed herself on UCCS' most rebounds in a season list with 262. White sits at third place and needs two more to pass Tara Newton.
- Tonight's opening round win sends the Mountain Lions to the Semi-final round. The last time UCCS has made it this far in the RMAC tournament was in 2016-17 season where the Mountain Lions won the tournament that season.
- UCCS has won 11 games in a row and 12 straight at home. They garner a 14-2 record in the Gallogly Events Center.
UP NEXT
- The Mountain Lions look to continue their postseason run on Friday, March 8 when they play No. 8 seed Colorado State University Pueblo at Regis University.
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As a member of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, the University of Colorado Colorado Springs competes in 14 varsity sports in NCAA Division II intercollegiate athletics.
