Lakewood, CO - Colorado Christian celebrated the New Year with a game against cross-town rival Colorado School of Mines in a tough RMAC showdown. Mines entered the game ranked 10^th in the nation after starting the season 10-1 including a perfect 6-0 conference record. CCU gave Mines all they could handle in the first half as the Cougars took a six point leading into halftime 35-29, but the second half belonged to Mines as they went on to win by a final score of 75-62.
 
The Cougars came out determined to pull off the upset and begin the New Year in style, but Mines was looking to assert their dominance early in the game as they hit two three pointers and jumped out to an early 6- lead. CCU was not phased, and quickly fought back to tie things up 6-6. After the two teams exchanged points back and forth, CCU secured their first lead of the game 13-12 with just under six minutes remaining in the first quarter. For the remainder of the quarter, Colorado Christian went on a 13-8 run to close out the first period as they took a 25-20 lead heading into the second quarter.
 
CCU came into the second quarter determined to clamp down on the Orediggers offense and not allow them to get back into the game, which is exactly what they did as the Cougars maintained their lead throughout the entirety of the quarter, and only surrendered nine points in the quarter to take a 35-29 lead heading into halftime. The Cougs didn't allow Mines to score a single basket from the floor during the quarter as they went 0-18 from the floor.
 
Maggie Phipps led all scorers at the halftime break as she tallied 11 points, followed closely by Dasiya Jones who had right points in the half. The Cougars had a good first half converting from the free throw line as they hit 13-15 shots.
 
The second half was a different story, as Mines came out and showed why they are ranked in the top 10 in the nation. The Orediggers got hot shooting the ball and tightened up their defense in the third quarter. Mines outscored CCU 27-11 in the quarter to take a 10 point lead heading into the fourth and final quarter 56-46. In the fourth quarter, the Cougs showed some more life, but it was not enough to get back into the game as they eventually fell by a final score of 75-62.
 
Maggie Phipps led all scorers in the game as she finished with 21 points on 4-9 shooting from the floor including 50% (3-6) from beyond the arc and a perfect 10-10 from the free throw line. Dasiya Jones also finished the game in double figures with 11 points on 4-10 shooting and also led the team with six rebounds. Makenna Bodette had a great game on the defensive side of the ball as she blocked one shot and also came away with three steals in the game.
 
Colorado Christian will now hit the road for their next pair of games as they will travel first to Salt Lake City, UT on Friday January 6^th to take on Westminster College at 5PM MST. Then they will set their sights on Colorado Mesa University as they travel down to Grand Junction to take on the Mavericks with tip scheduled for 5:30PM MST.  Stay tuned for all of the latest highlights and updates regarding CCU Athletics on CCUCougars.com.