LAKEWOOD, Colo. (GoThunderWolves.com - Jan. 18, 2013) - Despite heading into halftime tied, CSU-Pueblo's struggles shooting the ball and taking down the rebound caught with them as the Pack was outplayed by Colorado Christian in the second half, losing 68-66.
The way the first and second halves ended were microcosms of a game that frustratingly about small breaks and the ThunderWolves' inability to make the breaks come their way.
In charge of the game in the first half, leading 26-17 with 4:22 left, the Cougars were the ones that got the good shot off, got the rebound and recovered the loose ball, resulting in an 11-2 run to end the first half.
The momentum carried over to the second half, starting off on a 15-5 run that put Colorado Christian up 43-33 and set the stage for the rest of the game. CSU-Pueblo, despite being outshot (45 to 33 percent) and outrebounded (44 to 33), shrugged it off to play its way back into the game late.
With 2:05 remaining, Erica Hicks (Sr., Lakewood, Colo.) hit a three-pointer to tie the game at 62-62 as the Pack culminated a 14-6 run.
From there, it was the bad breaks again that bit the Pack as Colorado Christian played largely mistake-free basketball inside the final two minutes. First it was untimely foul by Alex Evans (Jr., Louisville, Colo.) that led to two foul shots that gave Christian a 66-64 lead with 1:39 remaining. Then it was a Hicks turnover that led to layup by the Cougars' Gillian Foster that made it a 68-64 game with an even 1:00 remaining.
The ThunderWolves nearly pulled it out, though, first getting a layup by Jenay Locke (Jr., Gilbert, Ariz.) to cut the lead to two 37 seconds left, then stopping the Cougars on the ensuing possession. However, with an open court in front of her following a rebound, a layup attempt by Katie Nehf (So., Broomfield, Colo.) to tie the game rimmed out, leaving the Pack frustratingly close from pulling out a frustrating game.
CSU-Pueblo, now 10-4 on the season, will try to salvage a win on the weekend Saturday when it travels to Golden to take on Colorado School of Mines.
