GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – The Colorado State University Pueblo women's basketball team begins its road to St. Joesph, Missouri (the site of the 2024 NCAA Division II Women's Elite Eight), with a first-round match-up tomorrow evening with Colorado Mesa University in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Tournament.

CSU Pueblo has won the RMAC Championship six times, while Colorado Mesa has won four times. The ThunderWolves last won the tournament in 2018, while Colorado Mesa last won in 2020.
The Pack come into tomorrow's matchup as the No. 8 seed in the conference with a 16-14 overall record and 11-11 record in the RMAC regular season, while Colorado Mesa is the No. 1 seed with a 24-5 overall record and 18-4 mark in the RMAC regular season.

Colorado Mesa won the season series against CSU Pueblo 2-0.

ABOUT THE PACK
CSU Pueblo is led by their All-American forward Alisha Little (Aurora, Colo./Northern Colorado) who took home nine RMAC Players of the Week awards this season. Little finished the regular season with the RMAC scoring title, averaging 20.4 points per game. She also finished the regular season leading the conference in rebounds at 11.5 per game and blocks at 3.5 per game.

In addition, Little has the most blocks in all of NCAA Division II with 105 on the season. She is second nationally in total rebounds, and leads the nation in double-doubles with 22. Little is coming off a weekend in which she broke the single season record for most points and rebounds in a single CSU Pueblo season.

Redshirt junior forward Autumn Watts (Centennial, Colo./McNeese State) has been an outstanding complement to Litte in the frontcourt as she joins her as the other double-digit scorer on the squad, averaging 10.2 points per game. Watts is coming off arguably her best game of the season in the regular season finale at Regis, in which she scored 19 points and pulled down nine rebounds.

Junior guard Tomia Johnson (Colorado Springs, Colo./Florida Gulf Coast) is one of the best two-way guards in the conference. Her defensive presence and command of the offense is crucial to the Pack's success. Johnson is fifth in assists in the conference at 3.5 per game and is ninth in the RMAC in steals at 2.1 per game. Johnson is also an outstanding rebounder at the guard position.

The engine of the team is grad. student guard Romola Dominguez (Denver, Colo./Central Arkansas). The team goes as she goes. The veteran guard does all the dirty work for Tommie Johnson's squad as she averages 5.6 points per game, pulls down an average of three boards per game, and gives the Pack a strong defensive presence.  

THE IDENTITY
CSU Pueblo relies heavily on their strong defensive presence as they continue to be one of the best defensive units in the RMAC and in the Nation. The Pack only allow an average of 64 points per game and hold their opponents to just 37 percent shooting from the field.

The Pack continue to rally around the ball as they lead the conference in blocked shots at 5.5 per game and rank fourth nationally in that category. In addition, the Pack average just under 10 steals and pull down an average of 38 rebounds per game.

OUR FEARLESS LEADERS
CSU Pueblo is led by Head Coach Tommie Johnson, who is in his fifth season at the helm. In his tenure as head coach, Johnson has put together a 64-70 overall record. Johnson also spent 2008-16 as an assistant for the men's program, and played his college ball at the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs.

Johnson is assisted by Jalen Little. Little is no stranger to the RMAC postseason as he spent four years coaching at Chadron State College prior to making his way to Pueblo. Little also played high level postseason basketball in the Southland Conference at Abilene Christian University as one of the best passing guards in the conference.

Johnson is also assisted by Jaylyn Duran. This will be a homecoming for Duran as she played her college ball right here at Colorado Mesa University, graduating in 2019. At the conclusion of her college days, Duran took her talents to the professional level for three seasons.

THE MATCHUP
CSU Pueblo and Colorado Mesa have met two times this season.

On Jan. 5 the two squads met in Grand Junction, resulting in a 74-59 Colorado Mesa victory. The Pack struggled to slow down Mason Rowland and Olivia Reed, two of the top scorers in the RMAC. Rowland exploded for 30 points on 9-of-16 shooting, and made 11 free throws in the contest. Reed scored 20 points on 7-of-13 shooting.

The Pack had three scorers in double-figures in the contest, led by Little who scored 22 points and pulled down 16 rebounds. Freshman Leilani Love (Albuquerque, N.M./Albuquerque) scored 14 points, shooting a perfect 6-6 from the field. Dominguez had a solid performance as well, scoring 10 points on 4-of-9 shooting.

The two teams met again on Feb. 24 in Pueblo, resulting in a 62-47 Colorado Mesa victory. The final score did not reflect how close of a game it really was as the Mavericks led 48-44 with just under eight minutes to play in the game.

The Mavericks had balanced scoring in the contest but did not have any one player go off. Reed had another fine performance, scoring 14 points. Sophie Hadad scored 12 points, while Rowland scored 10 points.

Shooting was the main killer for the Pack as CSU Pueblo only shot 34 percent from the field.

The ThunderWolves were led by Little who scored 20 points and pulled down 16 rebounds. Watts and junior guard Landri Hudson (Aurora, Colo./Wyoming) both scored eight points in the contest.

HOW TO WATCH
Fans will be able to watch the game on the RMAC Network HERE.