The Colorado Christian women's basketball team was back on the floor Saturday night as they took on CSU Pueblo in the second RMAC game of the year. It was a battle throughout the night, but the Cougars came out on top in the end as they defeated the Thunderwolves by a final score of 76-71. 
 
How it Happened – CCU came out of the gates on a mission as they jumped out to an early lead and continued to press against the Thunderwolves. The Cougs dominated the first quarter as they had stretched their lead to 14 at one point, but entered the second quarter with a 24-13 lead over CSUP. CCU shot a stellar 10-15 (66.7%) from the field and had a strong advantage on the boards as they grabbed 12 rebounds compared to just two from CSU Pueblo.
 
CSUP began to battle back in the second quarter as they utilized their strength from shooting from beyond the arc to get back into the game. The Thunderwolves shot 4-7 from downtown in the quarter and cut into the Cougars lead heading into the halftime break with the score in favor of the Cougs 37-33.
 
The second half began with CSU Pueblo still with the hot hand shooting the ball. The game quickly tightened up and turned into a battle each possession. With just under eight minutes remaining in the third quarter, another made three pointer from CSUP gave them their first lead of the game at 40-37. This didn't discourage Colorado Christian however, as they kept their heads in the game and battled back to regain the lead 44-43 thanks to a made jumper from Nicole Bowlin just a few minutes later. The remainder of the quarter remained a back and forth battle, India Cole made a layup with just under 30 seconds left to put CCU up one at 54-53, but CSU Pueblo answered back with a layup of their own and were fouled on the shot and converted the three point play to take a 56-54 lead with just a few seconds left. Victoria Perez hit perhaps the most pivotal shot in the game as she nailed a jumper as time expired in the third quarter to tie the game up 56-56 heading into the final quarter of play.
 
The last second shot gave CCU the early momentum in the fourth quarter as they jumped back on top and stretched their lead to five with just over five minutes left in the game. Just like earlier in the game, the Thunderwolves fought back into the game with their precision from beyond the arc and hit multiple three pointers to once again tie things up 70-70 with just under a minute left in the game. The Cougars showed great composure in the final minute as they remained calm and executed their offense to perfection. MyKaela Moore and Maggie Hutka both hit a pair of free throws down the stretch. Finishing things off was Dasiya Jones and India Cole who each hit another free throw while the stifling Cougar defense ultimately gave them the win by a final score of 76-71.
 
Beyond the Box Score – Dasiya Jones led CCU in scoring on the night as she tallied 20 points and grabbed eight rebounds. Maggie Hutka finished with 15 points and was clutch from the free throw line as she hit 7 of 10 shots from the charity stripe on the night. Victoria Perez also finished in double figures for the night with 11 points while also leading the team with five assists.
 
Next up for the Cougs will be a mid-week matchup against the Chadron State Eagles which will be a home game hosted at the CCU Event Center in Lakewood, CO on Wednesday December 7^th at 5PM MST. Come out and support CCU as they look to remain hot to start the year and add another win to their record.