SALT LAKE CITY, Utah - The Colorado State University Pueblo Women's Basketball Team begins Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play this weekend, traveling to take on Westminster on Thursday evening, and Western Colorado on Saturday afternoon.

The ThunderWolves had a late surge last season in RMAC play, proving they can play with the best of the best, as the ThunderWolves defeated Colorado Mesa University in the RMAC Tournament, advancing to the RMAC Semifinals. The ThunderWovles fell to UCCS to conclude the season at 17-15, 11-11 in RMAC play, just missing the NCAA Tournament. The Pack last made an NCAA Tournament appearance in 2022. 

The Pack are currently unranked on the early season, but are receiving votes in the South Central Regional Polls. The Pack have started off the season 4-3, defeating quality NCAA Division II programs; Texas A&M University-Kingsville out of the Lone Star Conference, and Missouri Western State University, the 2023-24 winners of the MIAA. 

The Pack are led by their two-time All-American Alisha Little (Aurora, Colo./Northern Colorado), who has not skipped a beat from her dominant campaign last season. Little is no doubt one of the best players in the country, and the best player in the RMAC. 

Little is coming off being named the WBCA/D2CIDA National Player of the Week in which she averaged 33 points per game, 10 rebounds, seven steals, and five blocks, leading Colorado State University Pueblo to a 2-0 weekend, defeating Haskell Indians Nation on Friday night, and Northern New Mexico on Saturday evening.

Over the weekend, Little moved into 10th place all-time in scoring at CSU Pueblo with 1,205 points. Little is now one of 10 players in program history to score 1,200 or more career points. She is just 361 points shy of Nadia Fercha's school record of 1,597 points.She also became the school's all-time leader in career blocked shots, passing Molly Rohrer, who blocked 207 shots in her career. 

The Pack are led by Head Coach Tommie Johnson, who is one of the best and well respected coaches in NCAA Division II, is really looking forward to this upcoming season, returning most of his core from last season with eight returners. Coach Johnson beefed up his roster, bringing in three transfers, and two freshman. Johnson is in his sixth season leading the ThunderWolves.

ABOUT WESTMINSTERNo

The ThunderWolves take on a Westminster squad who has began their season 1-4, including two losses to a mutual opponent of the Pack, A&M-Kingsville. CSU Pueblo won the season series one season ago, two games to none.

The Griffins are coming off a tough 2023-24 season which saw them finish in last place in the RMAC with a 3-25 overall record and 1-21 record in the league.

Westminster is returning their leading scorer from last season, Teuia Nawahine. Nawahine averaged 11.5 points per game one season ago, and has improved her scoring to 12.8 points per game this season. 

The Griffins are led by Asami Morita who is in her second season as Head Coach of the Westminster University Women's Basketball team, bringing over 14 years of collegiate coaching experience. Before joining Westminster, Morita spent two years as an assistant coach at the University of Nevada, Reno, where she contributed to significant player development and team success. In her first season, Nevada achieved the second-most wins in program history (20) and earned an invitation to the Women's Basketball Invitational. Under her guidance, players like Da'ja Hamilton, Alyssa Jimenez, and Audrey Roden earned All-Mountain West honors, and the team ranked fourth nationally in free-throw percentage (80.9%), the 11th-best in NCAA Division I women's basketball history.

ABOUT WESTERN COLORADO

Western Colorado struggled one season ago, finishing in 12th place in the RMAC with a 7-20 overall record and 5-17 conference record, but have appeared to turn things around quickly to the start of this season. The Mountaineers come into Saturday's match-up at 4-2, with quality wins over Alaska-Fairbanks, Western Oregon, Northern New Mexico, and St. Edward's. 

Western Colorado is riding a four-game winning streak coming into Saturday.

The Mountaineers return their leading scorer from one season ago; Rachel Cockman. Cockman averaged 14.8 points per game last season, which ranked 10th in the RMAC. This season, Cockman is averaging 13 points per game on 53 percent shooting, while pulling down eight boards per game.

Western is led by Head Coach Adam Jacobson, who is in his third season leading the Mountaineers. Jacobson spent the past two seasons as the women's head coach at North Dakota State College of Science (NDSCS) in Wahpeton, N.D. The Wildcats posted an overall record of 44-12 over his two seasons of leadership, including a 34-9 mark in Mon-Dak Athletic Conference action.