Lakewood, CO - After a game on the road last night in Colorado Springs, the Cougars returned to the friendly confines of the CCU Event Center on Saturday night for another RMAC matchup as they took on Regis University. Regis was supposed to play Chadron State last night in Nebraska, but due to the inclement weather that game was postponed so they came into the game with a 5-5 record overall, and were 2-2 in conference play after securing a win against Colorado Mesa in their last game out. The Cougars came into the game with a 6-5 record overall, and 2-3 in conference play after their loss to the Mountain Lions last night. Regis played almost the entire game in a difficult full court press, which proved troublesome at times as Colorado Christian ended up falling by a final score of 84-91.
 
It was an inauspicious start to the game as Regis opened up the game on fire shooting the ball, especially from beyond the three point line. Just over five minutes into the first quarter, the Rangers had built up a nine point lead at 16-7 after knocking down a three shots from long range. Luckily, they didn't remain with the hot hand as the Cougars fought their way back into the game using their patented team style of play. They used the final four minutes of the first period to go on a 10-2 run which pulled the game back close as it was 17-18 heading into the second period of play.
 
In the second quarter, both teams fought to seize the momentum. There were five lead changes throughout the quarter, which displayed the back and forth battle between the two RMAC opponents. The Cougars grabbed the lead late in the second quarter as the score sat 33-32 in their favor with 2:33 left in the half. Regis responded by scoring the final five points in the quarter to close out the half and grab the lead back heading into the halftime break 33-37.
 
Nicole Bowlin led CCU in scoring in the first half as she tallied eight points on 3-4 shooting from the floor including 2-3 from downtown. Victoria Perez had six points on 2-4 shooting, and newcomer Maggie Phipps wasted little time getting acclimated to her new home court as she also finished the first half with six points after shooting 2-3 from beyond the arc.
 
The Cougars opened up the second half with four straight points to tie things up 37-37. After Regis regained the lead, Aleksandra Clayton nailed a three pointer to tie things back up 44-44, then after a defensive stop Victoria Perez hit another one from beyond the arc to give the Cougs a three point lead 47-44 with six minutes to go in the third quarter.
 
CCU still had the lead 49-48 with five minutes left in the quarter, but Regis then went on a 12-0 run as they hit 5-6 shots from the floor during that stretch to snatch back the lead and push it double digits as the score sat 59-49 with 1:33 remaining. Christen Curry did everything she could to claw back into the game as she hit two layups in the final minute, and also drew an offensive foul against the Rangers to force a turnover. The Cougs were still trailing by nine with four seconds remaining as they got possession to finish out the quarter. Aleksandra Clayton took the inbounds pass and fired the ball down the court to the waiting arms of Mykaela Moore, who fired a pass into the corner to Victoria Perez who sank a three pointer from the corner as time was expiring which cut the deficit down to just six at 56-62 heading into the fourth quarter, but also gave CCU some much needed momentum heading into the final quarter of play.
 
For the fourth quarter of play, the Rangers kept the Cougars in check, as they were able to hang onto their lead throughout the period. Five minutes into the quarter, they had built up a 13 point lead over CCU at 75-62. The Cougars fought hard during the final five minutes to get back into the game, and India Cole made a layup with 3:33 remaining which cut their deficit down to six again as the score was 72-78. Despite their best effort, everything the Cougars did was countered by Regis in the final minutes of the game as CCU was unable to complete the comeback as they eventually fell by a final score of 84-91.
 
Nicole Bowlin led all scorers in the game as she had a tremendous outing scoring 19 points on 6-8 (75%) shooting including 3-5 (60%) from beyond the arc. Victoria Perez had a nice game with 14 points and also tied for the team lead in assists with six in the game and was a force defensively grabbing four steals. Christen Curry also finished in double figures with 13 points, along with India Cole who had 12 points on 5-6.
 
Overall, it was not a bad shooting night as the Cougars shot 47% from the field, but a main difference was the rebounding edge that Regis had, especially on the offensive boards. Regis grabbed 42 rebounds, compared to 34 from CCU, including a 17-11 advantage on the offensive glass.   
 
The Cougars will head into the Christmas break with a 6-6 record overall and are now 2-4 in conference play.  They will have a two week break before returning home on December 31^st for an afternoon matchup against the Colorado School of Mines. Tip is scheduled for 3PM MST.