PUEBLO, Colo. – Colorado State University Pueblo women's basketball used another strong shooting performance as the ThunderWolves posted an impressive 84-64 victory over New Mexico Highlands in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference action here Tuesday evening at Massari Arena.
 
With the win, the Pack improved to 10-8 overall and 5-5 in the RMAC, while New Mexico Highlands fell to 4-13 overall and 3-8 in the league. The victory, which improved the Pack to 8-2 at home this season, keeping the Pack in ninth place and in the hunt in RMAC standings as the Pack are just a half-game behind eighth place Fort Lewis in the league standings.

Tuesday's game was another outstanding shooting performance for the Pack as they shot 50 percent from the field on 30-for-60 shooting from the field. In addition to the fine shooting from the Pack, CSU Pueblo had another good night from deep, shooting 9-of-21 from three-point land. Three ThunderWolves' scored in double digits, led by their redshirt junior forward Alisha Little (Aurora, Colo./Northern Colorado), who was named an Honorable Mention WBCA All-American in 2021.
 
The Pack's win was keyed by the play of Little as she recorded her third straight and 13th double-double of the season with 27 points and 16 rebounds. She also added five assists, two steals, and added a block. Little leads the RMAC and Division II in blocks on the season with 64.
 
In addition to Little, redshirt junior forward Autumn Watts (Centennial, Colo./McNeese State) logged a career-high 18 points and shot 8-for-11 from the field. The third double-digit scorer for the Pack was sophomore guard Tomia Johnson (Colorado Springs, Colo./Florida Gulf Coast) as she tallied 12 points and added six assists. Johnson shot perfect from the field, going 4-for-4 from the field and 3-for- 3 from behind the arc, and was 1-for-1 from the free-throw line.
 
The Pack, who started the game off on a 23-4 run, set the tempo for the game and never looked back. Hot shooting in the first quarter gave CSU Pueblo a 26-12 lead after one quarter on 59 percent shooting. Little, Watts, and Johnson all sparked the hot start.

NMHU finally settled in, in the second quarter, holding the Pack to just 36 percent shooting in the second quarter. A mini 4-0 run to start the second quarter sparked by Neysa Munguia and Delani Harris cut the Pack's lead to 10 points, but that is as close as the Cowgirls would get. The Pack answered the quick run from the Cowgirls with a 9-0 run of their own to extend the lead to 35-16. The half ended with CSU Pueblo leading 41-23 at halftime as Little had already recorded a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds.

The Pack came firing out the gates with another stellar shooting quarter, shooting 62 percent from the field on 8-for-13 shooting, and 40 percent from behind the arc. Little and Watts led the second half barrage as the duo combined for 17 points in the third quarter. Johnson who has really been feeling her three-point shot as of late knocked down a three and freshman guard/forward Brynae Stewart (Colorado Springs, Colo./Pine Creek) knocked down a three as well to cap off the hot quarter.

Highlands had three players score four points in the third as the Cowgirls started to get some momentum. Juliana Aragon, Munguia and Harris each knocked down a pair of shots in the quarter to cap of an 8-of-19 shooting quarter from the Cowgirls, but had no answer defensively for the red-hot shooting from the Pack as the Pack took a 64-39 lead into the fourth quarter.

Little and Watts remained in the game going into the fourth, but with the large lead for the Pack, their services were not needed for very long. Little was able to toss in seven points and added her lone block of the game in the fourth. Watts added the bucket to give her a career high in points after she stole a pass and went the length of the floor, laying in the easy two. Pack head coach Tommie Johnson was able to get some of his reserves in the game as all 10 players logged minutes in Tuesday's win.

With the game pretty much out of reach, Highlands put together their best quarter in the fourth as they outscored CSU Pueblo 25-20 in the final frame on 42 percent shooting. Aragon gave the Cowgirls good minutes down the stretch with seven points in the final quarter.

Aragon, who leads the Cowgirls in scoring at 11.3 points per game, finished the night with 18 points on 6-of-15 shooting from the field, along with six assists. Munguia added 12 points, nine rebounds and two blocks, while Harris finished with 10 points in the loss. 

COACH JOHNSON AFTER THE GAME 
On his teams play: "I thought the girls came out and really started the game with some poise and good pace. It was a very business-like game tonight as we did what we are supposed to do one possession at a time "     
                                                                                                            
On his teams' continued hot shooting: "With our team we know going inside to Alisha (Little), Autumn (Watts), and Leilani (Love), we understand that those are high percentage shots and it looks like Tomia (Johnson) and Yara (Garcia) made some threes and are really opening it up for us. I tell our girls it can be boring throwing the ball inside, but it will get us some open looks."

On the importance of playing inside out: "I think the biggest thing is, we all know who Alisha Little is. In my opinion she is the top division II player in the country. I think she is really opening another part of her game. She had five assists tonight. She is a willing passer. And how about Autumn Watts? I used to think Alisha (Little) is one of the best athletes we have ever seen here in Pueblo, along with some past players, but Autumn is right up there. She is a fantastic athlete.                             

Thoughts going into the weekend: "We have got to be ready to play this weekend (Western Colorado). It is really is a tough place to play (Gunnison), the elevation always is an issue. They are a team that is fighting and clawing. Those games are never fun. They are a good team. They are just waiting on something good to happen for them, however, we are going to go up there and take care of business and make sure we are not something good that happens to them."

What's next:
CSU Pueblo gets a few days rest before they head west with an RMAC date in Gunnison, Colo. on Friday Jan. 19 at 5 p.m. against Western Colorado (2-11 overall, 0-8 RMAC). The Pack will look to continue their win streak and get above .500 in league play. Fans can listen to the game on 1350 AM (Fox Sports Pueblo), or stream the game on  the RMAC Digital Network.