PUEBLO, Colo. – The Colorado State University Pueblo Women's Basketball team used a scorching fourth quarter comeback on 10-for-10 shooting from the field to give the ThunderWolves a 73-69 come-from-behind victory here Saturday evening over MSU Denver in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference action at Massari Arena. 

Saturday's victory helped the Pack improve to 9-8 overall on the season and 4-5 in RMAC, while MSU Denver fell to 3-10 overall and 2-6 in the league. In addition, it was the first win for the Pack against MSU Denver since earning a 66-65 win over the Roadrunners in Denver, Colo., on Feb. 20, 2020. Pack fifth-year coach Tommie Johnson improved to 2-5 all-time against the Roadrunners and Coach Tanya Haave. 

The Pack will conclude its three-game homestand with a 5:30 p.m. game on Tuesday, Jan. 16 against New Mexico Highlands. The Pack closed out non-conference play on New Year's Eve with an 82-47 home win over the Cowgirls. 

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Redshirt junior forward Alisha Little (Aurora, Colo./Northern Colorado) once again recorded a double-double, scoring 28 points and pulling down 10 rebounds. Little leads all of Division II with 12 double-doubles. She also recorded five assists, six steals, and two blocks in the victory. 

- Redshirt junior forward Autumn Watts (Centennial, Colo./McNeese State) had a solid game scoring eoght points on 3-of-7 shooting from the field. 

- Freshman guard Jolene Ramiro (Aurora, Colo./Eaglecrest) also tallied a season-high eight points, and pulled down four rebounds, while junior guard Shamahra Henderson (Denver, Colo./Crowley County CC) also had eight points and four rebounds. 

- Graduate student guard Romola Dominguez (Denver, Colo./Central Arkansas) and junior guard Tomia Johnson (Colorado Springs, Colo./Florida Gulf Coast) each scored six points each in the contest. Johnson added four rebounds, three assists and a career-high tying six steals. 

- The ThunderWolves shot a season-high 51 percent from the field and 44 percent from three-point range in the game. CSU Pueblo also assisted on 19 of their 24 made baskets. Meanwhile, MSU Denver shot 40 percent from the field and 40 percent from the 3-point line.

- The Pack was a perfect 10-for-10 shooting from the field in the fourth quarter and also went 3-for-3 from behind the arc in the final period. The Roadrunners led by nine entering the fourth quarter, but couldn't stay with the offensive avalanche from the ThunderWolves as they outscored the Roadrunners 27-14 in the final period.
  
HEAD COACH TOMMIE JOHNSON AFTER THE GAME 
On his teams play: "Our girls were still a little down from Friday's game with Colorado School of Mines and it took us a half to wake up, but I'm extremely proud of their fight."                                                                                                                        

On the team's fourth quarter shooting: "Late in the game I asked our girls who's the best player in America? They all responded Alisha (Little). We all played really well off of her and she got us some wide-open looks. The formula is we want to score in transition, but if we cannot, we want to get her (Little) a touch."

On the play of the role players: "The role players play with such passion, at the end of the day they played with a lot of confidence. Our role players made a lot of shots tonight and they know they have the green light to take their shots."                                        

Message to the team: "Only thing that matters is Tuesday (vs. New Mexico Highlands) and we'll go from there. We are putting everything into Tuesday. The last two years, we have been good at home, and we want to keep that going. We want to finish this three-game homestand strong, and we'll take care of everything else when it's time."

HOW IT HAPPENED.
Both teams started off the game with strong shooting. MSU Denver took a 19-17 lead after one quarter after a good opening quarter from their leading scorer Mikylah Espinosa as she scored seven points, going 5-5 from the free throw line. CSU Pueblo Head Coach Tommie Johnson made it an emphasis to get the ball to Little going early as she had six points on 2-for-4 shooting, playing almost the entire first quarter.  

MSU Denver started to heat up in the second quarter, turning up the defensive intensity as the held CSU Pueblo to just 11 points in the second. The ThunderWolves shot only 33 percent in the quarter and it looked like it was going to be a repeat of the poor shooting from the night before. A very poised Roadrunner backcourt of Espinosa and Tosjanae Bonds and directed the offense, shooting 40 percent from the field and 42 percent from behind the arc and MSU Denver took a 37-28 lead into halftime. 
 
The Roadrunners shot only 37 percent in the first half on 11-of-29 shooting, but shot 55 percent from three on 5-of-9 from behind the arc. The Roadrunner defense kept the ThunderWolves in check in the first half, allowing CSU Pueblo to shoot 38 percent from the field, and kept the Pack at bay from three-point land, allowing just 25 percent from deep.
 
MSU Denver kept things the same in the third quarter as each team scored 18 points in the third to take a 55-46 lead heading into the final frame. The only problem MSU Denver had, was they allowed the Pack's top dog to get a rhythm in the third. After scoring just two points in the second quarter, Little got going, scoring seven points in the quarter, and taking confidence into the fourth.
 
With the lead at nine to start the fourth all the Roadrunners needed to do was keep Little contained. That did not happen. Little erupted for 13 points as the Pack played through her in the fourth. Credit the Pack's backcourt for realizing Little was hot, as they continued to feed her. While Little played fantastic in the fourth, it was not just her who brought back the Pack. MSU Denver had no answer for CSU Pueblo as the Pack shot a perfect 10-for-10 in the quarter and 3-for-3 from behind the arc. An 8-0 run in the fourth gave the ThunderWolves' a spark. A fast break shot from Ramiro and back-to-back three-pointers from Johnson and Watts got the Pack back in the game, cutting the Roadrunners lead to 65-61. The Pack finished the game on a 12-4 run after big shots from Little and Henderson, along with their closer Little to finish off the comeback win. Little 13 of her 28 points in the fourth quarter. 

MSU Denver was paced by 16 points from Espinosa, while Bonds added 15 points in the loss. In addition, Laci Roffle (11) and Ashlyn Yow (10) combined for 21 points off the bench as MSU Denver held a 29-20 edge in bench points.  

The Pack were outrebounded, 36-28 and collected a season-high 18 steals as MSU Denver committed 20 turnovers. The Pack had 21 turnovers in the win. 
 
UP NEXT
The Pack will get a few days rest after the back-to-back games this weekend as they host New Mexico Highlands (4-12 overall, 3-7 RMAC) on Tuesday, Jan. 16 at 5:30 p.m. at Massari Arena. The Cowgirls suffered a 68-47 loss on Saturday night in Las Vegas, N.M., against eighth-ranked Colorado School of Mines.