PUEBLO, Colo. – The Colorado State University Pueblo women's basketball team will conclude a three-game road trip to open the 2023 calendar year on Tuesday, Jan. 10 with 5 p.m. Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference game in Las Vegas, N.M., against New Mexico Highlands University.
 
The Pack comes into Tuesday's game having dropped a season-high three straight games to move its record to 8-7 overall on the season and 5-4 in the RMAC, while NMHU has lost four straight games and is sporting a 9-7 overall record and a 3-7 mark in the RMAC.
 
Tuesday's road game will mark the third straight road game for the Pack and the eighth road game this season as the ThunderWolves are 2-5 away from home, including being 2-3 on the road in RMAC play after suffering back-to-back losses this past weekend at 10th-ranked Colorado School of Mines (94-58) and MSU Denver (58-42).
 
ABOUT CSU PUEBLO
The ThunderWolves are enduring their longest losing streak since dropping six straight games during the COVID-19 shortened season in 2019-20. The current three game losing skid is the longest this season as the Pack haven't won since picking up a 67-65 win at home on Dec. 30 against Colorado Mesa. The losing skid began with a 64-56 home loss to Westminster on New Year's Eve, before suffering those back-to-back setbacks this past weekend at Mines and MSU Denver.
 
CSU Pueblo has just one player averaging in double figures on the season as graduate student forward Charisse Fairley (Colorado Springs, Colo./Fresno State) leads the way in scoring and rebounding as she is averaging 12.9 points and 6.5 rebounds per game and is shooting 42 percent from the field, 37 percent from the 3-point line and 77 percent from the free throw line. Fairley has scored in double figures in 11 games and has posted two double -doubles as she had 11 points and 10 rebounds against Colorado Mesa and 13 points and 11 rebounds against Westminster.
 
Three other ThunderWolves' are averaging over seven points per game on the season – sophomore guard Landri Hudson (Aurora, Colo./Wyoming), graduate student guard JaNaiya Davis (Hewitt, Texas/Midway) and sophomore guard Daeja Johnson (Queen Creek, Ariz./Casteele).
 
Hudson is averaging 9.6 points and 2.9 rebounds per game and is shooting 40 percent from the field, 38 percent from the 3-point line and 83 percent from the free throw line and she has tallied double figures in five games and has scored at least nine points in three of her last five games, while Davis is averaging 7.9 points, 6.1 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 2.1 steals per game and is shooting 38 percent from the field and 73 percent from the free throw line and is sixth in the RMAC in steals and Johnson is averaging 7.6 points and 3.7 rebounds per game and is shooting 38 percent from the field and 36 percent from the 3-point line and has scored in double figures in four games, including two straight double-digit games after scoring 11 points at Mines and tallying a career-high 16 points against MSU Denver.
 
As a team, CSU Pueblo leads the RMAC in three-pointers made per game (9.9) and is second in the league in three-point field goal defense (28.9 percent) and free throw percentage (72.6 percent), while being third in the league in three-point field goal percentage (34.7 percent) and turnover margin (+1.5).
 
On offense, the Pack is averaging 64.0 points per game, but has been held under 60 points in three consecutive games, including scoring a season-low 42 points last time out against MSU Denver. The Pack is also shooting 38 percent from the field. Defensively, the Pack is allowing 66.3 points per game and their foes are shooting 41 percent from the field and are getting outrebounded by a little over nine rebounds per game.
 
CSU Pueblo is coached by Tommie Johnson, who is in his fourth season as the Pack's women's basketball coach. In his three-plus season directing the Pack women's program, Johnson, who spent 10 seasons as an assistant men's basketball coach from 2008-16, has compiled a 42-48 overall record and is 32-37 in RMAC games.
 
ABOUT NEW MEXICO HIGHLANDS
New Mexico Highlands comes into Tuesday's game currently riding a four-game losing streak that has dropped its record to 9-7 overall and 3-7 in the RMAC. The latest losses in the Cowgirls' current losing skid were a 62-51 setback this past Friday at MSU Denver and a 79-48 setback on Saturday at 10th-ranked Mines. In addition to those two losses, the Cowgirls also closed the 2022 calendar year with home losses to Westminster (55-51) and Colorado Mesa (68-63).
 
Since opening the 2022-23 season with five consecutive wins, the Cowgirls have posted a 4-7 record with three of those wins coming in league play as they have earned league wins at Colorado Christian (74-66) and South Dakota School of Mines (82-67) and at home against Fort Lewis (78-56).
 
The Cowgirls are one of the top defensive teams in the league as they are third in the RMAC in field goal percentage defense as their foes are being held to 37.3 shooting from the field. Additionally, NMHU is fifth in scoring defense as they are allowing 62.3 points per game and are also fifth in blocked shots per game as they average 2.9 per game. The Cowgirls also are good at taking care of the basketball as they have committed the second fewest turnovers per game on the season as they are averaging just 13.7 turnovers per game.
 
On offense, NMHU is averaging 62.4 points per game and are shooting 38 percent from the field, 30 percent from the 3-point line and 69 percent from the free throw line and are getting outrebounded by 2.4 boards per game and are averaging 6.2 made treys per game.
 
Leading the way offensively for the Cowgirls is freshman guard Juliana Aragon, who is averaging 14.0 points, 2.2 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game and is shooting 51 percent from the field, 41 percent from the 3-point line and 76 percent from the free throw line. She has scored in double figures in 11 games, including reaching double figures in two straight games and six times in their last seven games.
 
In addition to Aragon, sophomore Krystina Hagood is second in scoring as she is averaging 10.3 points and 5.6 rebounds per game and is shooting 35 percent from the field and 86 percent from the free throw line. She has reached double figures in eight games, including scoring 15 points last time out against Mines.
 
Two other Cowgirls are averaging just under 10 points per game as sophomore forward Aja Scott is averaging 9.8 points and 7.1 rebounds per game and is shooting 44 percent from the field and 34 percent from the 3-point line, while graduate student guard Rachael Niles is averaging 9.7 points and 3.5 rebounds per game and has a 3.0 A/TO ratio on the year.
 
NMHU is coached by Garett Sherman, who is in his second season with the Cowgirls in 2022-23. Sherman has posted a 15-29 overall record and a 6-25 record in RMAC play in his tenure with the Cowgirls. Sherman's nine wins this season are the most in season since NMHU won 12 games and posted a 12-14 record during the 2013-14 season.
 
Tuesday's game with New Mexico Highlands will mark the 29th all-time meeting between the two schools with CSU Pueblo holding a 25-3 all-time mark in the series. The Pack have won 13 straight games in the series, including posting an 80-59 win in the team's most recent meeting on Jan. 14, 2022 in Las Vegas, N.M. CSU Pueblo is 13-1 at home and 12-2 on the road against the Cowgirls.