Colorado Christian will be hitting the road for the first time in the New Year as they play a pair of games away from the CCU Event Center this weekend to continue RMAC play. CCU enters the weekend with a 6-7 record overall, and are 2-5 in conference play. In their last game against 10^th ranked Colorado School of Mines the Cougars gave the Orediggers all they could handle and took a lead into halftime, but Mines used a strong second half to snatch the victory away from CCU. They will be looking to bounce back this weekend as they take on Westminster College on Friday Night in Salt Lake City, UT, followed by a game against Colorado Mesa in Grand Junction to wrap up their weekend.
 
The Cougars will be traveling to Salt Lake City on Friday January 6^th where they will take on a talented Westminster College team that currently has a 7-6 overall record, but they are an impressive 5-2 in conference play. The Griffins will be riding a two game winning streak into the matchup. This will be the 10^th matchup historically between the two teams with the Griffins having won six and CCU winning three. However, The Cougars have held the advantage in Utah as they have won two of the three matchups at Behnken Field House, the home court for the Griffins. The Cougs will be looking to win another game in their house, while Westminster looks to remain hot by winning another game.  
Westminster is led on the court by senior Ashley Greenwood. Greenwood currently leads her team in scoring as she averages 17.1 PPG, and also leads the team in rebounding with 8.1 RPG. They also have strong contribution from Lyndzi Rich who averages 12.1 PPG and 6.4 RPG. It will be vital for CCU to play strong defense throughout the entire game and contest every shot that the Griffins put up. Westminster leads the RMAC in field goal percentage as they are shooting .449 on the year so far, so CCU must make it difficult for them to get good shots. If the Cougs can force more missed shots they could take advantage on the glass as Colorado Christian leads the RMAC in rebounding averaging 42.2 RPG, so if they can limit the second chance opportunities they will have a good chance to come away with the victory.
 
After their game on Friday, Colorado Christian will get back on the road and head to Grand Junction, CO where they will take on Colorado Mesa on Saturday January 7^th tipping off at 5:30PM MST. The Mavericks currently are 3-10 overall and 2-5 in conference play. CMU will be taking on Chadron State on Friday night prior to taking on the Cougars on Saturday. The Cougs will be looking to secure the victory and take advantage of a team that has struggled at times this season.  
The Mavericks are led in scoring by freshman Olivia Reed who is currently averaging 11.5 PPG to go along with 9.8 RPG which makes her a threat to record a double-double every time she takes the court. Reed has already secured six double-doubles on the season so far. Monica Brooks is also a player that the Cougars need to look out for as she is averaging 10.6 PPG and grabs 7.2 RPG. CCU will be looking to take advantage of their speed and stretch the court against the Mavericks in order to increase their chances of success. The Cougars (72.2 PPG) are one of the top scoring teams in the RMAC, while Colorado Mesa (60.4 PPG) are near the bottom, so they will be looking to find the hot hand and take good shots to stretch their lead throughout the game.
 
Colorado Christian has definitely received a mid-season spark in the form of newcomer Maggie Phipps who just joined the team in late December as a transfer. She has played three games so far this season, and is averaging 10 PPG to lead the team. In her last game out, she scored 21 points which was the most by a Cougar this year since Maggie Hutka scored 22 points on 11/19/22 against the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Victoria Perez remains one of the top weapons for the team from beyond the arc as her .409 shooting percentage from downtown is second best in all of the RMAC. Along with Perez (8.9 PPG), the Cougs have four other players averaging at least eight points per game. Dasiya Jones (8.8 PPG), Agnes Paul (8.4 PPG), Regan LoConte (8.4 PPG) and Makenna Bodette (8.3 PPG).
 
The Cougars play a team oriented game which has led to them having one of the top offenses in the RMAC. They lead the RMAC in assists per game with 17.23 APG, anchored by freshman point guard Nicole Bowlin who leads the team in assists. That has pushed them into the third highest scoring team in the conference averaging 71.6 PPG. They also aren't afraid of doing the hard work in the paint, as they lead the RMAC in rebounding which is key is limiting second chance attempts for opponents, while providing more second chances for their offense.
 
CCU will be looking to pick up their first two wins of the New Year against Westminster and Colorado Mesa. Stay Tuned to CCUCougars.com for all of the most up to date information surrounding the Cougars basketball team.