RMAC Quarterfinal: CSU-Pueblo 70, Adams State
61
Losing your top player to injury can be a horrible omen to a
team. Especially in a playoff game.
But Tuesday night, CSU-Pueblo used it as an opportunity
to come of age and show its maturity as a
championship-caliber basketball team.
In an RMAC Quarterfinal showdown at Adams State College in
Alamosa, the ThunderWolves overcame an early injury to
Rachel Espinoza (Jr., Pueblo, Colo.) and stepped
up their game across the board, scoring a 70-61 win over the
Grizzlies and earning the right to play in the RMAC Shootout at the
Colorado State Fair Events Center in Pueblo Friday night.
Espinoza left the game just two minutes in, and the
ThunderWolves responded to the loss of their point guard by taking
Adams State's all-everything point guard, Vero Jo Bustos, out of
the game. Bustos, who buried six threes in the Grizzlies'
17-point win over CSU-Pueblo at Adams State earlier this season,
was just 1-for-10 in the first half, scoring just two
points. Bustos finished with just four points on the night.
With the scales evened between the two squads, Katrina
Selsor (Fr., Glenwood Springs, Colo.) elevated her game to
become the team-leader on the floor in the first half, going for 10
points and seven boards in the first half alone in leading the Pack
to a 37-26 halftime lead.
In the second half, the Pack's second point guard,
Kendall Babler (So., Rifle, Colo.), picked up
where Selsor left off, scoring nine points and registering three
assists. Babler was joined by Erica Hicks (Fr.,
Lakewood, Colo.), who picked a heck of a night to have her
best collegiate game, sinking two threes and going 5-for-6 in the
second half for all 12 of her points on the night.
Overall, despite the roadblocks in their way, the end result was
truly never in doubt. The Pack opened up a double-digit lead
15 minutes into the game, and largely held it throughout. The
only threat came late in the game, when Adams State closed the
advantage to six points with 1:36 remaining. But that would
be as close as the Grizzlies got in a game that was all
ThunderWolves.
CSU-Pueblo will move on to the RMAC Shootout at the Colorado
State Fair Events Center in Pueblo Friday, when it will face
Colorado Christian at 7:30 p.m.
