The RMAC tournament got under way on Tuesday night as Colorado Christian took on Black Hills State in first round action. The Cougars were able to get revenge on Black Hills State as they were able to come away with the victory by a final score of 71-59. It was a close game throughout as neither team was able to get ahead by more than six points until late in the game when CCU was able to hit on their free throws to finish it out.
 
Both teams faced off in Late January as Black Hills State traveled to Lakewood to take CCU on at the CCU Event Center. It was a close game, but it was won by the Yellow Jackets as they pulled out the 67-65 victory over CCU. In their first matchup, Taylor Torres was knocked out of the game early on and was not able to return to the game. Torres was the difference maker in their second game, and is the main reason that CCU will be advancing to the second round of the RMAC playoffs.
 
The game began with both defenses hitting on all cylinders. The Cougars were able to hold the Yellow Jackets to a single digit point total in the first quarter as they took a four point lead heading into the second by a score of 13-9. The game remained a tight battle in the second quarter, but both offenses were able to get into a better rhythm which lead to more points. Heading into the half, CCU held onto their four point lead as the score read 30-26 in favor of the Cougs.
 
Colorado Christian finished the first half shooting 35% (10-29) from the field, and hit 38% (3-8) of their attempts from beyond the three point line. It was a great team effort in the first half as CCU got production from their entire team. Taylor Torres and Chandler Sturms each finished the first half with six points to lead the team. Sturms came off of the bench and hit two three pointers late in the second quarter which was able to keep the Cougars out in front. Kaitlyn Hinch had five points, and Kate Louthan and Ali Meyer each had four points to round out the leadings scorers for the team in the first half.
 
Black Hills State came out on fire to begin the third quarter as they quickly erased the deficit, and turned the table by taking the lead just minutes into the second half. The Cougars recovered quickly and stopped the pressure which was being applied by BHSU. The teams continued to jockey for position with the time that remained in the third, but thanks to a late 8-2 scoring run to finish out the quarter, CCU was able to take the lead 46-44 heading into the final period.
 
Senior Taylor Torres was determined to not let her career end on the night as she took control in the fourth quarter and rattled off seven straight points which gave CCU a six point lead with just over seven minutes remaining in the game. The Yellow Jackets refused to quit as they were kept in the game by hitting on their shots from beyond the arc. Torres hit another jumper with a little over five minutes remaining in the game which pushed the lead back up to five points as the score was 64-59. The Cougars were able to force a couple of turnovers late in the game which forced Black Hills to begin fouling to try and extend the game and give them a chance on the offensive side of the ball. Once again Torres stepped up and slammed the door shut as she hit all six of her free throw attempts in the final minute of the game which iced the game, and gave CCU the victory 71-59
 
Taylor Torres finished as the games top scorer as she ended up with 23 points and also had three steals and three assists. Torres had 17 points in the second half, highlighted by the 15 points she scored in the final quarter to put the game out of reach. Her fourth quarter total equaled the amount of points the entire Black Hills State team had in the period. Kate Louthan and Chandler Sturms rounded out the other Cougars who scored in double digits for the game as they each finished with 11 points. Louthan also led the team with six rebounds, and Sturms hit on 3-4 shots she took from downtown.
 
Coach Darren Richie spoke after the game, "The team played great defense, and Taylor really stepped up to lead us. We were able to hit 12 big free throws down the stretch which secured us the victory. The team is excited to be going back to the conference final four."
 
The win puts the Cougars into the second round for the RMAC playoffs which will be played on Friday March 4^th. They will be taking on either CSU-Pueblo, or Colorado Mesa University. The game time will be determined once the final games and locations are finalized.
 
DNL