PUEBLO, Colo. (November 14, 2014) – Colorado State University-Pueblo women's basketball senior Katie Nehf (Broomfield, Colo.) made history in the ThunderWolves' season-opening, 79-67, victory over Montana State Billings University in the 31st annual CSU-Pueblo Al Kaly Shrine Classic Friday at Massari Arena. With her single-game career-high matching six blocks, Nehf moved into first place in career blocks with 143, passing former Pack standout Tawona Wilson's old program-best mark of 138.
With the victory, CSU-Pueblo moves to 1-0 on the season and improves to 7-3 in season openers under head coach Kip Drown. The ThunderWolves pick up their first win in three tries all-time against the Yellow Jackets (0-1). The Pack have now won their first contest of the season five out of the last six years.
CSU-Pueblo outshot Montana State Billings, registering a 47.5 shooting percentage compared to a 33.3 percent mark for the visitors. After shooting just 6-40 in two preseason games from behind the three-point line, the ThunderWolves stroked 12-22 (54.5%) attempts, including 9-13 in the first half. The Yellow Jackets held the advantage from the free-throw line, converting on 16-24 attempts, while the Pack shot 9-15. MSUB held a decided advantage in the rebounding category (48-33), while CSU-Pueblo owned the edge in blocks (6-2), steals (10-3) and assists (20-14).
Angie Moore (So., Katy, Texas) paced four Pack players in double figures with a career-high 17 points on 6-8 shooting, including a 2-2 mark from beyond the arc and a 3-4 tally from the free-throw line. Ashley Piper (Jr., Cedar Rapids, Iowa) spearheaded the ThunderWolves solid three-point shooting night, burying all four of her attempts from long range to finish with a career-high 16 points. Rounding out the double-figure scores for CSU-Pueblo were Dee Arrieta (Jr., Pueblo West, Colo.) with 14 points and Nehf with 13 points.
Nehf and freshman Tuileisu Anderson (Vancourver, Wash.) tied for the team lead in rebounds with five, while Anderson matched Ana Gurau (Jr., Longmont, Colo.) in steals with three. Gurau also paced the Pack in assists, registering six helpers.
For the Yellow Jackets, Alisha Breen posted a double-double, tallying a game-high 23 points and 13 rebounds. Also scoring in double figures for Montana State Billings were Kayleen Goggins (13), Quinn Peoples (11) and Rylee Kane (10). Groggins also matched Gurau for the most assists in the contest with six.
MSUB started off the contest strong, racing out to an early 9-2 advantage. Piper keyed a 12-4 run for the ThunderWolves, scoring eight points to put the home team in the lead, at 14-13, with 14:09 left in the first half.
From that point on, CSU-Pueblo did not relinquish the lead, pushing it to as many as 12 on two different occasions in the opening 20 minutes of play. Piper finished with 13 of her 16 points in the first stanza as the Pack took a 48-39 advantage into the intermission. The ThunderWolves bench played a big role in the first half, outscoring the Yellow Jackets' bench 12-3 thanks in large part to nine points from Moore.
CSU-Pueblo maintained a healthy lead throughout the opening minutes of the second half, but MSUB began to chip away at the deficit mid way through the stanza. Trailing 57-47 with 15:01 showing on the game clock, the Yellow Jackets went on a 10-2 scoring surge over the next 5:06 to pull within two points.
Anderson quickly turned the momentum back in favor of the Pack, picking the pocket of two different MSUB players on back-to-back possessions and converting fastbreak layups on each play to push the lead back to six points.
The ThunderWolves quickly extended their advantage to 17 points with 4:46 remaining in the contest and never looked back, rolling to a 79-67 victory.
CSU-Pueblo returns to the hardwood Saturday for its final game in the Al Kaly Shrine Classic, hosting Upper Iowa University at 5 p.m.
