GUNNISON, Colo. – The Colorado State University Pueblo women's basketball squad grinded out a tough 61-56 road victory here Friday evening over Western Colorado in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference action at at Paul Wright Gymnasium. 
 
With the win, the ThunderWolves improved to 11-8 overall and 6-5 in the RMAC, while Western Colorado falls to 2-12 overall and 0-9 in the league. The victory was the third straight for the Pack. 
 
The Pack's gritty win was keyed by the play of their defense as they held Western Colorado to just 35 percent shooting for the night on 21-of-59 shooting. Redshirt junior forward Alisha Little (Aurora, Colo./Northern Colorado) recorded her fourth straight and 14th double-double of the season with 25 points and 14 rebounds. She also added two blocks as she leads the RMAC and Division II in blocks on the season with 66.
 
Graduate transfer guard Romola Dominguez (Denver, Colo./Central Arkansas) joined Little in double-figures as she scored 11 points on 3-of-7 shooting from the field. Dominguez played in crunch time and knocked down a couple of clutch free-throws to ice the game. Junior Yara Garcia (Scottsbluff, Neb./Western Nebraska CC) played big minutes for the Pack, scoring six points, and hitting both of her three's. Junior guard Tomia Johnson (Colorado Springs, Colo./Florida Gulf Coast) also scored six points as she hit two three-pointers as well. Johnson, who is fourth in the conference in assists with 4.0 per game, dished out three more assists in Friday's win. 
 
The Pack started the game off a little sluggish, shooting just 33 percent in the first quarter on 5-of-15 shooting but found solace in who else other than Alisha Little, as Little scored the first five points of the game for CSU Pueblo and seven in the quarter. Garcia and redshirt junior forward Autumn Watts (Centennial, Colo./McNeese State) got in on the action as Garcia knocked down a three-pointer and Watts had a layup on a beautiful touch pass from Little. Defense set the tone for the Pack in the first quarter, as they held WCU to just 13 percent on 2-of-15 shooting from the field. Despite the first quarter shooting woes from both squads, the Pack still managed to hold a 12-6 lead after one quarter.

Both teams finally settled in the second quarter as CSU Pueblo shot 54 percent from the field on 7-of-13 shooting and 4-of-6 from deep, while Western Colorado shot 37 percent on 7-of-19 shooting from the field. Junior guard Landri Hudson (Aurora, Colo./Wyoming) opened the quarter knocking down a three, but the Mountaineers answered with back-to-back three-pointers from Jayda Maves and Rachel Cookman. Dominguez continued the three-point barrage answered with a three of her own and CSU Pueblo led 18-12 halfway through the quarter.

The Pack continued to score at will on Western Colorado as freshman forward Leilani Love (Albuquerque, N.M.) and Alisha Little dominated down low getting easy buckets. For the Mountaineers, Cookman, who leads the team in scoring at 16.6 points per game, was doing her thing as she got into double-figures with 11 points before halftime. With the lead cut to three, Little and Johnson knocked down a couple of threes to end the quarter and give the Pack a 31-22 lead into halftime.

The Pack came firing out the gates after the break to start the third quarter with three-pointers from Dominguez and Garcia and the Pack extended their lead to 41-25. A quick 5-0 run from Cookman and Maves cut into the CSU Pueblo lead, but free throws from Little and Hudson, along with a three-pointer from Johnson quickly put the Pack back up 15. Free throws from the Mountaineers and a three from Maves cut the lead to 10 to end the quarter with CSU Pueblo up 47-37. Both teams shot just under 42 percent in the third quarter on 5-of-12 shooting from the field.

With a double-digit lead going into the fourth quarter all the Pack needed to do was hang on. This is where Western Colorado finally made their run. A quick 4-0 run by the Mountaineers cut the lead to six. Dominguez knocked down a three to make the score 50-41, but Cockman answered with a three and made it 50-44.

With just under six minutes to play in the game Alisha Little got an easy two, but the Mountaineers would not go away and answered with a 7-2 run and cut the ThunderWolves' lead to one after an Ivey Schmidt three 3:35 to go in the game. Schmidt once again knocked down a jumper after Watts made a free throw and tied the game at 53 apiece.

With both teams throwing haymakers, junior Shamara Henderson (Denver, Colo./Cowley County CC) made a timely layup to give the lead back to the Pack. The Pack played the last two minutes of the game through their ace, as Little made timely buckets and knocked down clutch free throws. With the score 59-56, the Pack needed one stop to secure the victory. Western Colorado went to their leading scorer Cockman to try and tie the game, but lockdown defense from the Pack forced a miss and Dominguez iced the game with a couple of free throws to cap the victory.

The Pack gets a week off before they head to South Dakota to take on South Dakota Mines and Black Hills State. The Pack have an RMAC date on Friday Jan. 26 at 5:30 p.m. in Rapid City, S.D. against South Dakota Mines (4-12 overall, 4-6 RMAC) and play the next day at 4 p.m. in Spearfish, SD in a match-up with Black Hills State. Fans can listen to the game on 1350 AM (Fox Sports Pueblo), or stream the game on the RMAC Digital Network.