DURANGO, Colo. (February 13, 2015) ~ The Colorado State University-Pueblo women's basketball team ran its road winning streak to three games Friday, defeating the Fort Lewis Skyhawks, 67-60, at Whalen Gymnasium.
The victory improves the ThunderWolves record to 13-8 overall and 11-6 in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference contests. The Pack remain in sole possession of third place in the league standings. Fort Lewis drops to 12-9 on the season and 9-8 in league games.
The story of the game was the difference in free-throw shooting. The Pack shot 24-of-27 from the charity stripe, while the Skyhawks made 9-of-12 attempts. The 24 made free throws is a new season-high for CSU-Pueblo.
Fort Lewis stayed in the contest by making 11-of-23 3-point attempts compared to just 5-of-17 shooting from deep by the Pack. Overall, the ThunderWolves shot 19-of-51 (37.3 percent) from the field, while Fort Lewis made 20-of-51 (39.2 percent) field goal attempts.
CSU-Pueblo owned the advantage in rebounds, 36-31, and steals, 13-9, while the Skyhawks held the edge in assists, 15-12, and blocks, 8-1.
Ashley Piper (Jr., Cedar Rapids, Iowa) finished the game with a career-high 14 makes from the free-throw line and a game-high 19 points overall. The junior also added 11 rebounds for her third double-double of the season.
Also scoring in double figures for the Pack were Katie Nehf (Sr., Broomfield, Colo.) with 12 points, Shannon Patterson (Fr., Pueblo, Colo.) with 11 and Angie Moore (So., Katy, Texas) and Dee Arrieta (Jr., Pueblo West, Colo.) with 10 points each.
Dallas Dickerson recorded a team-high 13 points for the Skyhawks, while Kylie Santos and Mary Brinton chipped in with 12 and 10 points, respectively.
The ThunderWolves jumped out to an early 9-5 lead, but the home team used a 10-6 scoring run to even the contest at 15-15 with 8:05 elapsed in the opening half.
CSU-Pueblo outscored the Skyhawks, 17-8, over the final 11:55 of the first stanza to take a 32-23 advantage into the halftime break.
Coming out of the intermission, the Pack extended their advantage to 18 points, at 52-34, with 11:20 showing on the game clock.
Fort Lewis climbed back in the contest, using an 18-4 spurt to pull within four, at 56-52, with 5:42 left in regulation.
The ThunderWolves quickly pushed their lead back to 11 points thanks to a pair of free throws by both Moore and Piper and a 3-pointer by Patterson.
The Skyhawks cut the deficit to just one possession, at 63-60, after an 8-0 run with just 1:08 remaining.
The three points was as close as Fort Lewis got the rest of the way as Patterson and Arrieta put the game away with two free throws apiece to give CSU-Pueblo the 67-60 victory.
The Pack look to extend their road-winning streak to four games when they travel to face Adams State Saturday 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.
