PUEBLO, Colo. (January 31, 2015) - The Colorado State University-Pueblo women's basketball team's last-minute surge wasn't enough to overcome Western New Mexico University in a 56-51 loss Saturday at Massari Arena.
With the loss, the ThunderWolves drop to 9-6 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference and 11-8 overall, moving them into a fourth-place tie in the conference standings with Black Hills State University. The setback snaps a 15-game winning streak for CSU-Pueblo over Western New Mexico. For the Mustangs, they move to 8-7 in the conference and 11-8 overall.
Both teams struggled shooting the ball as the Pack registered a 30.6 (19-of-62) field-goal percentage and the Mustangs posted a 36.5 (19-of-52) mark from the field. CSU-Pueblo held the slight edge in rebounding, 39-38, while the visitors owned the advantage in assists, 14-7. Both teams finished the contest with seven steals.
Freshman Tuileisu Anderson (G, Vancouver, Wash.) led the way in scoring for the Pack, netting a career-high 15 points. Anderson shot 3-of-6 from 3-point range and finished 5-of-10 overall from the field. Junior Dee Arrieta (G, Pueblo West, Colo.) and sophomore Angie Moore (F, Katy, Texas) joined Anderson as the only three ThunderWolves' players to score in double figures. Moore added 10 points, while Arrieta recorded her first-career double-double with 12 points and a career-high 10 rebounds.
RaTanya Newsome paced the Mustangs in scoring with 12 points. Stephanie Douthit added 10 points off of the bench. Nalani Hernandez pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds.
CSU-Pueblo fell behind early to begin the game after an 8-0 run to start the contest by the Mustangs.
The Pack battled back throughout the half and took their first lead of the game off a 3-pointer from Anderson to make it 12-10 in favor of the home team with 8:32 showing on the game clock. Anderson finished the opening stanza with five points. From there both teams continued to battle back-and-forth as there were four ties and three lead changes in the closing minutes of the period.
The ThunderWolves went into the halftime break with a two-point lead after senior Emily Dungey (G, Lake Oswego, Ore.) tallied a put-back basket just before the buzzer to make it 25-23 in favor of CSU-Pueblo.
The momentum carried over into the second half for the Pack, as they opened up the first 4:45 of the half on a 10-2 run and led 35-27, their largest lead of the game. Western New Mexico bent, but didn't break as it answered with a run of its own, scoring eight straight points to tie the game at 35 with 11:45 remaining in the contest.
From there both teams continued to trade blows and go back-and-forth, as there were three ties and one lead change in the second half. The Mustangs eventually delivered a final blow to the ThunderWolves going on a 7-0 run to move in front, 47-40, at the 7:06 mark.
The Pack fought back and cut it to three, at 54-51, with 50 seconds left and after a tough defensive sequence that ended in an Arrieta steal, the ThunderWolves had one last chance to tie the game. A 3-pointer from junior Ashley Piper (G, Cedar Rapids, Iowa) with 19 seconds left, rimmed in-and-out and the Mustangs held on for the victory.
Up next, CSU-Pueblo will be at home Feb. 7 for "Take a kid to game night" as they will take on RMAC leading University of Colorado Colorado Springs in a conference showdown. The contest is slated to tip off at 5:30 p.m.
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As a member of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, Colorado State University – Pueblo competes in 22 varsity sports in NCAA Division II intercollegiate athletics.
