Colorado Christian took to the court on Friday night as they were looking to defeat Oklahoma Baptist and take the regional NCCAA championship. CCU came out on top as they came away with the 94-88 victory. It was a close game throughout and the outcome could not be decided in regulation, as the outcome was decided in overtime.
 
The Cougars spread their offense around in the first half of a closely contested ballgame as they took a slim four point lead heading into the break by a score of 41-37. Leading the way for the Blue and Gold was Alex Nelson, who finished with nine points. Taylor Torres, Kate Louthan and Mikala Gordon all finished the first half with seven points. Louthan was also leading the team in assists and rebounds, as she had five of each in the first 20 minutes of play.
 
The second half began as both teams continued to battle for positioning and halfway into the third period Oklahoma Baptist was able to tie the game up 50-50. On the next CCU possession, Chandler Sturms drained a three pointer which sparked the Cougar offense as it led to a 13-6 run in their favor to finish out the quarter and regain the lead by a score of 63-56.
 
Much like the start of the third quarter, the Bison were determined to work their way back into the game. Once again they were able to tie up the game 66-66 with just over four minutes remaining in the game. Both teams exchanged points and with 27 seconds remaining, the Bison took the lead as they hit a free throw to complete a three point play and lead by a score of 74-73. The Cougars held onto the ball and worked the remaining time on the clock down to under 10 seconds as Claire Paxton took a shot which rimmed out, but Mikayla Gordon grabbed an offensive rebound and was fouled sending her to the free throw line with a chance to win the game as the clock was down to 4.7 seconds. Gordon connected on the first, but missed her second attempt, which sent the game into overtime.
 
Overtime remained close as the lead never grew above a three point lead for either side. It was a one point lead at 87-86 when Taylor Torres brought the home crowd to their feet as she hit a deep three pointer from downtown with 37 seconds left which gave them a four point lead and ended up sealing the victory for the Cougars.  
 
Four Cougars finished the game in double figures for the game. Leading the way was Taylor Torres who finished the game with 21 points. Torres had the hot hand as she hit 5-8 from downtown including the deciding one in overtime which put the team up for good. Kate Louthan finished the game with a double-double, as she had 16 points and 10 rebounds. Mikala Gordon finished with 12, and Alex Nelson had 11.

Head Coach Darren Richie spoke about the game and his teams accomplishments after the game, "We played a tough team in Oklahoma Baptist tonight, they gave us a great fight but our team was resilient and was able to pull together and finish strong. Tonight was our 21^st victory on the year, which is a school record for wins in a season. I am really proud of this group of girls, they have played great all year, and we are looking forward to heading to Indiana for the NCCAA Championships."

 
The Cougars will be heading off to compete in the NCCAA championships which are going to be held at Grace College in Winona Lake, IN. The tournament runs from March 16-19^th. Game times will be released as soon as they are finalized.
 
DNL