LAKEWOOD, Colo. – Colorado State University Pueblo women's basketball used a combined 41 points from redshirt junior forwards Alisha Little (Aurora, Colo./Northern Colorado) and Autumn Watts (Centennial, Colo./McNeese State) and a lay-up from junior guard Shamahra Henderson (Denver, Colo./Cowley County CC) with nine seconds left to seal the ThunderWolves' 59-58 win over eighth-ranked UT-Tyler in the opener of the South Central Regional Crossover hosted by Colorado Christian and held at the CCU Event Center.
 
With the victory, the Pack improves to 1-2 overall on the season, while UT Tyler falls to 2-2 on the year.
 
Henderson's lay-up came after the Patriots took a 58-57 lead on a lay-up by Lovisa Hevinder with 44 seconds left in the game. That lead change was the third of the game. Following Henderson's game-winning lay-up, UT-Tyler throw the ball out of bounds to give the Pack the ball with four seconds left. On the ensuing inbounds by the Pack, Watts turned the ball as she attempted to find graduate student guard Romola Dominguez (Denver, Colo./Central Arkansas), but the Patriots were unable to get a shot off before the buzzer sounded.
 
Little paced the Pack offense with a double-double of a career-high 26 points and a career-high tying 13 rebounds, while Watts added 15 points and six rebounds in the victory. For the game, Little was 7-for-13 from the field, including a 3-for-6 effort from the 3-point line and was 9-for-10 from the free throw line. Watts finished the game 5-for-10 from the field and was 4-for-4 at the free throw line.
 
Junior guard Tomia Johnson (Colorado Springs, Colo./Florida Gulf Coast) finished with eight points, including hitting a 3-pointer with 5:33 left in the game to pull the Pack within a point at 56-55. Johnson's trey capped 5-1 run for the Pack after UTT opened the fourth quarter on an 8-2 run after the teams were tied at 48 heading into the final quarter.
 
The Pack led 18-17 after the opening quarter thanks to seven points from Little and six points from Watts. Ella Bradley scored 10 of her team high 15 points in the quarter for the Patriots.
 
CSU Pueblo opened the second quarter on a 10-5 run to push its lead to 28-22 following two free throws by Little. UTT, though, would close out the half on a 7-6 run to cut the Pack's lead to 34-29 at the half.
 
The Pack scored four of the first six points of the third quarter to lead 38-31 just two-plus minutes into period. The Patriots would respond back 15-5 run to take a 46-43 lead following a 3-pointer from Frances King.
 
Following King's trey, Little would score five of the final seven points of the quarter to help the Pack tie the game at 48 after 30 minutes of action. Little scored seven of the Pack's 14 points in the quarter.
 
UTT opened the final quarter on an 8-2 run to push out to a 56-50 lead with 7:48 left in the game, before the Pack responded with a 7-1 run capped by two Little free throws to give the Pack a 57-56 lead with 2:33 remaining.
 
In addition to Bradley's 15 points, Hevinder added 13 points and Martina Machalova had 10 points for the Patriots.
 
The Pack finished the game shooting 39 percent from the field and 29 percent from the 3-point line, while UTT shot 37 percent from the field and just 25 percent from long distance.
 
Perhaps the biggest catalyst in the Pack's win was free throw shooting as CSU Pueblo shot 17-for-20 (85 percent) at the line. UTT was just 4-for-5 from the field, including shooting no free throws in either the second or fourth quarters.
 
CSU Pueblo held a 37-30 edge on the boards and blocked five shots, including three blocks by Little and two blocks by Watts.
 
The teams combined for 43 turnovers as the Pack had 25 and UTT finished with 18. The Patriots held an 18-17 edge in points off turnovers and outscored the Pack, 28-20 in the paint.
 
CSU Pueblo will conclude play in the South Central Regional Crossover on Saturday, Nov. 11 with a 1 p.m. game against Lubbock Christian (2-1). LCU opened the event with a 67-62 overtime win over Colorado Christian on Friday afternoon.