The Cougars were back in action on the court on Saturday night as they faced off against Regis University. Regis shot the lights out and was able to defeat Colorado Christian by a final score of 82-61. The Rangers came into the game with an eight game winning streak, while CCU had won 11 out of their last 13, as it was a matchup between two of the top teams in the RMAC.  
 
The first quarter began as a back and forth battle between the two conference opponents, as each team exchanged buckets and the lead until about four minutes remained in the period. At that point, the game was tied 17-17, but the rest of the quarter belonged to Regis as they finished the first on a 12-1 run to take the lead heading into the second 29-18. CCU turned the ball over five times in the quarter and the Rangers were able to capitalize as they scored eight points off of the turnovers. Regis was red hot shooting in the first quarter especially from behind the three point line. They finished the quarter hitting on 5-8 shots from downtown led by their sharpshooter Bay'lee Purdy, who nearly outscored Colorado Christian in the first quarter by herself as she finished with 15 points.
 
CCU attempted to chip away at the Ranger lead in the second quarter, but both defenses clamped down and the Cougars deficit remained at 11 points heading into halftime as the score was 41-30. Bay'lee Purdy continued to be a thorn in the side for Colorado Christian as she finished the first half leading all scorers with 22 points on 9-12 shooting including 4-7 from beyond the arc.
 
Colorado Christian Finished the first half shooting 43% (9-21) from the field, but only 25% (1-4) from three compared to 43% (16-37) from the floor and 40% (6-15) from downtown for Regis. CCU was able to get to the charity stripe often, and took advantage of the opportunity, as they were able to hit 11-15 (73%) from the free throw line compared to 3-3 (100%) for Regis. Offensively, the Cougs were led by Paxton and Louthan who each had six points, and Leisha Crawford and Ali Meyer both had five points.
 
The Cougars offense struggled in the third quarter as they only made 5-20 (25%) shots in the quarter. Regis continued to make their shots as they were able to extend their lead to 18 points as they led 59-41 heading into the fourth.
 
The fourth quarter was a similar story to the rest of the game as CCU was unable to come back from the deficit, as they lost the game by a final score of 82-61. CCU was unable to get any momentum going on the offensive side of the ball and their defense could not contain the Rangers shooters.
 
Colorado Christian finished the game shooting 39% (22-56) from the field, and 20% (2-10) from three. Regis finished the game shooting 51% (32-63), and 40% (8-20) from long distance. Bay'lee Purdy was the difference maker in the game as she finished the game with 33 points for the Rangers.
 
Ali Meyer was the only Cougar to finish the game with double digit points as she tallied 14 points and also led the team in rebounds grabbing eight of them. Alex Nelson finished with nine points, while Claire Paxton and Kate Louthan each had eight points.
 
The loss drops CCU's season record to 15-6 overall, and 12-5 in conference play. They will be back in action next Friday night as they will be taking on Western New Mexico University at the CCU Event Center in Lakewood, CO. Tip is scheduled for 5PM MST. 

DNL