PUEBLO, CO- Colorado Christian headed south for a two-day tournament hosted by CSU Pueblo on Friday as they began with a contest against Missouri Western State. In a good game throughout, CCU earned their first win of the season and first win under first year head coach
Carissa Ratliff 79-70.
Early on it was the Griffons who came out shooting hot, claiming the early 6-2 lead. A three-pointer from
Nicole Bowlin made it a one point game and the offense began to get going off jumpers from
Maggie Hutka and
Victoria Perez.
Ali Wetta got a layup to go, and
Presley Wheeler closed the first quarter with a three for an 18-10 lead.
Maggie Phipps and
Dasiya Jones poured in baskets while Wheeler chipped in another three as the Cougars found themselves trailing 35-34 after a strong second quarter from the Griffons to head into the halftime break.
Phipps took things into her own hands as she went on a mini scoring run with back-to-back threes paired with a layup from Hutka for a seven point lead at 44-37. MWSU showed they were not going to back down from the challenge as they responded with a comeback to take a three point lead to the final frame.
The Griffons stretched the lead to as much as six with an early three in the fourth, but that was as far ahead as they would get. Perez connected from downtown to start the rally, and threes from Jones and Phipps saw the deficit trimmed to just one. Perfect trips to the line from Bowlin and Hutka sent the Cougars back in front, and they never looked back. Jones scored four straight and Perez made a layup for the 75-69 lead, and CCU iced the game from the liner as they claimed the victory with a strong fourth quarter both offensively and defensively to win 79-70.
Phipps paced the offense with 21 points, while Jones and Hutka each had double-doubles on the night. Jones scored 13 points and had 13 rebounds while Hutka had 14 points and 10 rebounds. Hutka led her team in assists with four followed by Bowlin with three.
The Cougars will look to make it two wins in a row as they take on Texas A&M University Kingsville on November 16 at 2 p.m. MST.
