GOLDEN, Colo. (Feb. 26, 2022) – The regular season drew to a close Saturday night, as the Colorado State University Pueblo women's basketball team (21-7, 17-5 RMAC) fell to No. 20/23 Colorado School of Mines (24-4, 19-3 RMAC) 53-40. The ThunderWolves' 18-win improvement from the 2020-21 season sets a program record.
 
Things started off even and slow on the offensive side for both teams. After trailing 10-5 early, the Pack were able to put together a 7-0 run kickstarted by a Tomia Johnson steal and fast break bucket. The first quarter concluded with the Pack trailing narrowly 13-12.
 
The Orediggers enjoyed a modest run to start the second, but the Pack surged back with a 7-0 run that was capped off by a 3-point swish from Ro Dominguez. CSU Pueblo and Mines traded shots for the remainder of the half and Alisha Davis nailed a layup to trim the deficit to just a point with six seconds to go in the half. Unfortunately for the ThunderWolves, the Orediggers hit a half-court shot at the buzzer to put the Pack behind 27-23 at the break.
 
Headed out of the break with momentum on the side of the Orediggers, the Pack struggled to put points on the board. Despite limiting the Mines offense thanks to blocks and steals from Davis, the Orediggers outscored the Pack 13-3 in the third quarter and put the ThunderWolves behind by 14 points headed into the final quarter.
 
A jumper from Amaya Lewis with 5:53 to go in the fourth got the Pack back on track offensively. Davis followed up her teammate and splashed a 3-pointer from the wing to trim the deficit down to 10 points with 4:45 to go.
 
On the next possession, JaNaiya Davis answered a Mines bucket with a 3-pointer of her own to get it back down to 44-35 with plenty of time on the clock. 
 
To the dismay of the Pack, the nine-point deficit was the best the team could muster up and ultimately fell to the 20th-ranked conference rival 53-40.
 
Alisha Davis logged her fifth double-double of the season with 13 points and 10 rebounds. The junior forward also tallied four blocks on the night to go with two steals. Davis recorded 63 blocks in just 21 games to rank her fifth in CSU Pueblo history for most blocks recorded in a season.
 
JaNaiya Davis dropped 10 points on the night and pulled down five rebounds. The guard now sits eight all-time in career points (1194) and eight in all-time rebounds (583). 
 
The ThunderWolves finished the regular season third in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) with a 17-5 record to mark their best finish since the 2017-18 season.
 
The Pack will host their first RMAC tournament game since the 2017-18 season as the fourth-seed and will take on Black Hills State in a four-five showdown at 7 p.m. Tuesday. CSU Pueblo claimed a 70-56 win at Black Hills State in the sole regular-season battle.