The Cougars hit the road on Friday night for a conference game against South Dakota School of Mines. CCU kept it close, but in the end the Hardrockers came out on top by a final score of 71-60. The main factor in the defeat was the advantage that SDSMT had at the free throw line. They got to the line 41 times in the game, and hit 28, compared to just 12-21 on the Christian side.
 
The game began as a back and forth battle between the conference opponents. Five minutes into the first quarter the game was tied 6-6. During the next three minutes, SDSMT went on an 11-3 run to open up an eight point lead 17-9. The Cougars fought back and by the end of the first quarter, they had cut the deficit in half as they trailed 17-13.
 
Mines went on another run to begin the second quarter as they outscored CCU 11-3 in the first five minutes of the quarter to push their lead to 12 at 28-16. Once again the resilient Cougar squad fought back and tightened things up. Some hot shooting to finish out the second quarter sent the game into halftime with Christian trailing by five 30-25.
 
Claire Paxton was the team's leading scorer at the break, as she had eight points as she hit 4-5 shots from the floor. Mikayla Gordon and Kaitlyn Hinch each finished the half with four points and two steals.
 
The Hardrockers came out of the break with a high defensive intensity, as they held the Cougars to just ten points in the third quarter. The Cougs allowed 17 in the quarter, which gave Mines a 12 point lead heading into the final quarter of play.
 
Colorado Christian was finally able to break out offensively in the fourth quarter, but unfortunately SDSMT was able to match the offensive attack, which kept them in front and gave them the 71-60 victory over CCU.
 
Claire Paxton finished the game as the team's leading scorer with 16 points. Kaitlyn Hinch was close behind as she scored 11 points in the second half to give her a total of 15 for the game. Mikayla Gordon finished just one rebound shy of a double-double as she had 11 points and nine rebounds.
 
The Cougars are now 2-6 on the year, and are still looking for their first conference victory. They will have another chance to get that victory on Saturday night as they remain in South Dakota traveling to Spearfish to take on Black Hills State University. Tip is scheduled for 4PM MST.