LAKEWOOD, CO- The Cougars were back at home on Saturday as they hosted #7 UT Tyler inside the CCU Event Center. Led by an offense that knocked down an astounding 13 three-pointers, Colorado Christian took down the Patriots for a huge early season victory in front of a raucous crowd.
Maggie Hutka put in the first points of the game to start what would be a memorable night for her as she drilled an early three. Regan LoConte joined in on the action from beyond the arc moments later and Nicole Bowlin and victoria Perez continued the onslaught with threes of their own. Dasiya Jones closed the quarter with one more triple to send her team ahead 17-9 at the end of the first quarter.
The Patriots mounted a comeback to get within four, but another LoConte trey made it 27-20 Cougars. The two teams battled into the break with the home team holding a 27-24 advantage.
Intent on not giving up their lead, Agnes Paul hit a jumper to start the third quarter. The strong UT Tyler squad eventually made their way back to tie things at 35, but Jenna Kendall hit a clutch three that swung the momentum back to CCU and put them ahead for good. The score remained tight heading into the final frame at 43-41, but the fourth would prove to be a good one for the Cougars.
Hutka nailed another three at the eight minute mark, and Maggie Phipps put one in from deep to stretch the lead to 11. The offense continued to move the ball around the arc well, and several key defensive stops led to a pair of baskets from Hutka as the home team led by 10 with just over four minutes to go. Just when the Patriots thought they could climb back into things with four straight points, Hutka stepped up and buried the dagger from deep as she hit her third three to seal the 70-61 victory over the #7 Patriots.
Hutka was tremendous all night, leading all scorers with 23 points to go along with a team high nine rebounds. LoConte and Phipps joined Hutka in double digit points with 13 and 10 respectively. Jones had eight points and eight rebounds as part of a stellar night, and Bowlin led in assists with five.
It was an incredible effort from Colorado Christian as they picked up a massive early season win over a team that went 27-8 last season and was picked at #7 in the preseason poll. The Cougars will look to keep the momentum going as they continue their season with a neutral site matchup against Langston University in Pueblo on November 17 at 3 p.m. MST.
