PUEBLO, Colo. – Colorado State University Pueblo used 54 percent shooting from the floor and 91 percent shooting from the free throw line in the second half here Friday evening at Massari Arena to post a 75-59 victory over UCCS and secure the eighth and final spot in next week's Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Tournament.
 
With the win, CSU Pueblo improves to 14-13 overall and 11-10 in the RMAC, while UCCS falls to 10-17 overall and 9-12 in the league.
 
After trailing 32-31 at the half, the Pack would outscore the Mountain Lions, 44-27 in the second half to improve to 6-10 on the season when trailing at the half thanks to its strong shooting from both the field and free throw line.
 
Graduate student guard JaNaiya Davis (Hewitt, Texas/Midway) led the way offensively for the Pack as she tallied 16 points and added eight rebounds and four assists. With her 16 points, Davis moved within nine points of becoming just the third player in school history to score 1,500 career points. Davis has now scored 1,491 points, which is third in the school's all-time scoring chart.
 
In addition to Davis, sophomore guard Landri Hudson (Aurora, Colo./University of Wyoming) added 14 points and graduate student guard/forward Charisse Fairley (Colorado Springs, Colo./Fresno State) had 12 points, four rebounds, three steals and career-high tying three blocks.
 
The Pack opened the third quarter on a 9-0 run that was capped by five straight points from Fairley to retake the lead at 40-32 just two-plus minutes into the period. UCCS, though, would score eight of the next 12 points to cut CSU Pueblo's lead to 44-40 with 2:13 left in the period.
 
About 49 seconds later, graduate student guard Morgan Dial (Denver City, Texas/Western Texas College) drilled a trey to help the Pack close the quarter on a 5-2 run to hold a 49-42 lead after three quarters.
 
UCCS would mount a rally at the start of the fourth quarter as the Mountain Lions scored seven of the first nine points of the quarter to pull within two at 51-49.
 
That would be as close as UCCS would get as the Pack used a 12-4 run to push in front 63-53. After a basket by Breelyn Robinson dropped CSU Pueblo's lead to 63-55, the Pack used a 12-0 run capped by four straight made free throws from Fairley to push out to a 75-55 lead with 1:15 left in the game. The Mountains Lions would score the final four points of the game to drop the final margin to 16 points.
 
Maison White led the way offensively for UCCS as she had 24 points and added 15 rebounds. White scored 16 of her 24 points in the first half to help propel the Mountain Lions to its halftime lead. Rylie Ottmann added nine points off the bench in the loss.
 
UCCS jumped out to a 9-6 lead just four minutes into the game and led 11-9 with 5:37 left in the opening quarter when the Pack used a 10-2 run capped by a lay-up from senior guard Amaya Lewis (Hobbs, N.M./New Mexico JC) to give CSU Pueblo a 19-13 lead with 2:16 left in the quarter. The Mountain Lions would close the quarter on a 6-4 run to drop the Pack's lead to 23-19 after the first 10 minutes of action.
 
UCCS would outscore the Pack, 13-8, in the second quarter to hold a 32-31 halftime lead.
 
For the game, the Pack shot 45 percent from the field and 28 percent from the 3-point line, while UCCS shot 34 percent from the field and 16 percent (3-for-19) from the 3-point line.
 
UCCS held a 46-40 edge on the boards, including collecting 25 offensive rebounds, including 10 from White. In addition to Davis' eight boards, Lewis finished with a career-high tying seven rebounds in the win.
 
Both teams committed 18 turnovers, but the Pack was able to score 20 points off of UCCS' turnovers. CSU Pueblo also held a 6-4 advantage in blocked shots.
 
The Pack was also strong at the free throw on the night as they finished the game shooting 94 percent (16-for-17) from the foul line, while UCCS, who entered the game shooting a league-worst 60 percent at the line went 6-for-13 (46 percent) from the line in Friday's game.
 
CSU Pueblo will close the 2022-23 regular season on Saturday, Feb. 25 with a 5:30 p.m. game against Regis, who enters the game with a 21-6 overall record and an 18-3 mark in the RMAC following its 74-57 win Friday at New Mexico Highlands. The Rangers, who have already assured themselves at least a share of the RMAC regular season title, can win the regular season title outright with a win on Saturday. Prior to Saturday's game, the Pack will honor its five seniors in a pregame ceremony. The five seniors this season are Davis, Dial, Fairley, Lewis and guard Jalen Long (Moreno Valley, Calif./Eastern Arizona College).