Over the years, CCU Women's Basketball has been in the business of dramatic upsets. Every season, a bigger, stronger, faster opponent comes into the Event Center favored to win – only to leave in dismay after falling to an underdog Colorado Christian squad. While the teams change with the seasons, it seems one key player remains the same. Saturday in Lakewood, that player pulled off last-second heroics one more time, helping her Cougars to a timely 56-54 win over the RMAC's top-ranked Colorado Mesa Mavs.
 
Of course, there was a lot of game to be played before senior guard Christina Whitelaw would hit that game-winner. In that time the Christian squad went to work, fighting tooth and nail on a night when the shots weren't falling. Turning their attention to the defensive side of the ball, the Cougars disrupted Mesa's momentum and seemed to wreak havoc on the visitor's game plan. By the time the final horn sounded, CMU had committed 18 turnovers and shot a meager 34% from the field (39% from three).
 
"We realized early that our offense wasn't flowing as well as it had last night," explained Whitelaw after the win, "so we put a lot of focus on our defense. We changed things up a little defensively, had Alyssa and I face-guarding their two shooters and they didn't seem to know what to do with it."
 
Indeed, Christian's defensive adjustments seemed to work against the Mavs. Normally potent offensively, Mesa managed just 54 points – more than ten fewer than they averaged coming into the night. The results have become familiar for those following the Cougars. Owners of a four-game win streak, the blue and gold have held their opponents to fewer than 55 points in each of those wins.
 
Though Mesa led the night's contest for more than 20 minutes, the game became a dogfight late in the final half. Trading free throws and also buckets, the squads battled for a substantial advantage that wouldn't come.
 
A pair of CMU foul shots with less than a minute to play gave the Mavs a two point advantage. With 37 ticks on the clock, however, Whitelaw drove to the basket looking for the win. Though she didn't find the bottom of the net, the Colorado Springs native drew a foul, and then drained both foul shots to tie the game at 54. When a Mesa trey missed, the Cougars had a big opportunity to go ahead as time expired.
 
That's just what they did. Though Whitelaw missed her first try, an Alyssa Fressle board kept the CCU hopes alive. After inbounding the ball right under the basket, Whitelaw nailed a baseline jumper to give Colorado Christian the two-point lead as time expired.
 
"I was a little frazzled because Kate Louthanand I were kind of fighting over the ball with two seconds left. I don't think I even looked at the rim. I just shot it and it dropped for me."
 
Whitelaw finished the night with 16 points in addition to seven steals. Bigs Kayla Fakelman and Louthan combined for 24 points, five assists, three blocks and three steals. With the win, Christian advances to 10-5 in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play, and makes a tremendous leap in league standings. Though they sat in seventh heading into Friday, the Cougars now own third.
 
"This win was huge," continued Whitelaw. "To be able to hold a team that scores so well and so often to around 50 points is huge. Now we're just one game behind and we know that we can play with any team in the league."
 
CCU returns to the road this week, though they'll stay local with a pair of contests against Regis and Metro on Friday and Saturday.