PUEBLO, Colo. – The Colorado State University Pueblo women's basketball team continued its season-long five game homestand here Friday by posting a hard-fought 49-37 victory over Eastern New Mexico in a key South Central Regional non-conference contest at Massari Arena.
With the win, the ThunderWolves improved to .500 on the season as they evened their record at 3-3, while Eastern New Mexico, who was ranked eighth in this week's latest D2CSC South Central Regional rankings, falls to 3-2 on the year.
Friday's game was a defensive battle as the Pack held the Greyhounds to 32 points below their season average as Eastern New Mexico scored a season low 37 points, including scoring just 12 points in the second half.
The 37 points allowed were the fewest points allowed by the Pack since allowing 34 points to UCCS in a 53-34 win over the Mountain Lions on Jan. 15, 2022. In that game, UCCS scored just 14 points in the second half after leading 20-17 at the half.
Junior guard
Landri Hudson (Aurora, Colo./University of Wyoming) paced the Pack offense with 14 points, while redshirt junior forward
Alisha Little (Aurora, Colo./Northern Colorado) posted her fourth double-double of the season as she had 10 points and 16 rebounds and blocked three shots. Little scored eight of her 10 points in the second half.
The Pack defense held the Greyhounds to 24 percent shooting from the field and 24 percent (5-for-21) from the 3-point line, including 15 percent field goal shooting and 8.3 percent shooting from the 3-point line after halftime.
CSU Pueblo hit three treys and made 47 percent of its shots from the field in the first quarter as the Pack held a 17-10 lead after the opening 10 minutes of the game.
The Greyhounds, though, responded by outscoring the Pack, 15-9, in the second quarter to cut the Pack's halftime lead to 26-25.
CSU Pueblo opened the third quarter on a 12-4 run to push its lead to 38-29 following a free throw by junior guard
Tomia Johnson (Colorado Springs, Colo./Florida Gulf Coast) with 3:10 left in the period. The run was keyed by five points from Hudson.
The teams would hit a free throw over the final three minutes of the period to give the Pack a 39-30 lead after three quarters of play.
The Pack would open the final quarter by scoring 10 of the quarter's 12 points to push its lead to 49-32 with 1:51 left in the game. The 17-point lead was the largest of the game for both teams. Little scored five of the Pack's 10 points in the quarter.
Following the Pack run, the Greyhounds scored the final five points to cap the scoring.
Jaz Salon led the way for ENMU with 14 points, while Deja Adrian added six points and seven rebounds.
The Pack were outrebounded, 38-35, including holding a 14-5 edge on the offensive glass. The Pack also lost the turnover battle, 26-24 as the Greyhounds outscored the Pack, 25-15 on turnovers.
CSU Pueblo also blocked eight shots and has now blocked 37 shots on the season and is averaging 6.2 blocks per game. In addition to Little, redshirt junior forward
Autumn Watts (Centennial, Colo./McNeese State) also blocked three shots and added seven points, four rebounds and three steals.
The Pack was also strong at the free throw line as they made 13 of its 15 free throw attempts and shot 87 percent at the line, including an 11-for-13 effort at the line in the second half. ENMU was 6-for-8 (75 percent) at the line in the loss.
The homestand will continue with a 5 p.m. game on Saturday, Nov. 25 against Baptist Bible. Baptist Bible (5-2) played on Friday night at UCCS and the Mountain Lions earned an 85-53 win.
