PUEBLO, Colo. – Colorado State University Pueblo women's basketball saw its nine-game home court win streak halted here Saturday afternoon as the ThunderWolves committed 25 turnovers and were just 2-for-22 from the 3-point line in suffering a 77-71 setback to New Mexico Highlands University in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference action at Massari Arena.
 
With the setback, the Pack fell to 12-6 overall and 7-3 in the RMAC, while New Mexico Highlands improves to 8-8 overall and 5-5 in the league. At the halfway point of the 2024-25 RMAC schedule, the Pack are sitting tied for second place in the league standings with Black Hills State.
 
Saturday's loss was the first at home this season for the Pack and its first home court loss since suffering a 62-47 setback to Colorado Mesa on Feb. 24, 2024. The Pack's nine-game home court win streak was the longest active home court win streak among RMAC schools.
 
In Saturday's game, the Pack offense struggled shooting the ball as they shot 38 percent from the field and tied a season-low with two made treys as the shot nine percent from long distance in the game. Meanwhile, NMHU shot 43 percent from the field and 82 percent (22-for-27) from the free throw line. The Cowboys were just 1-for-9 from the 3-point line on the day.
 
While NMHU was 22-for-27 at the line, the Pack outshot the Cowgirls from the free throw line as they shot a season-high 38 free throws and made a season-high 29 as they were 29-for-38 (76.3 percent) at the line.
 
Two-time All-American redshirt senior forward Alisha Little (Aurora, Colo./University of Northern Colorado) paced the Pack offense with 31 points and tied a career-high with 19 rebounds for her third straight and 14th overall double-double this season. Little has now recorded double-doubles in 38 of the Pack's last 50 games dating to last season. The 31 points also pushed Little's career scoring total at CSU Pueblo to 1,524 points, which is second on the school's all-time scoring chart and is now just 73 points shy of Nadia Fercha's career scoring record of 1,597 points.
 
In addition to Little, senior guard Tomia Johnson (Colorado Springs, Colo./Florida Gulf Coast) added 10 points, four assists and four steals. The four assists pushed career total to 307, which is seventh on the school's all-time list, while the four steals pushed her career total to 186, which is eighth on the school's all-time list.
 
Along with shooting 38 percent from the field, the Pack's 25 turnovers led to 30 points for the Cowgirls, including 17 points off the Pack's 14 first half turnovers as Highlands led 41-38 at the half. It marked just the third time this season the Pack had allowed 40 first half points.
 
The Pack jumped out to 15-4 lead in the opening four-plus minutes of the first period and led 20-10 with four minutes left in the opening quarter, when the Cowgirls scored 14 of the next 17 points to take a 24-23 lead following a lay-up by Aspen Salazar with 14 seconds left in the period. The Pack would cap the first period scoring on a lay-up by senior guard Shamahra Henderson (Thornton, Colo./Cowley County CC) to give the Pack a 25-24 lead after the opening 10 minutes.
 
In the second period, the Pack made just two of its seven field goals and had eight turnovers that led to nine points for NMHU as they outscored the Pack, 17-13, in the period to hold its 41-38 halftime lead.
 
NMHU would push its three-point halftime lead to as much as nine points at 54-45 following a basket by Kapiolani Anitelu with 4:49 left in the third period. That nine-point lead would be the largest of the game for the Cowgirls.
 
The Pack, though, responded with a 10-4 run capped by two Johnson free throws to drop NMHU's lead to 58-55 with 2:01 left in the third period. The Cowgirls would close the period on a 6-4 run to hold a 64-59 lead heading into the final period.
 
The Pack opened the fourth period on a 7-2 run capped by a three-pointer from senior guard Tosjanae Bonds (Denver, Colo./MSU Denver) to pull the home team within one point at 67-66 with 5:20 left in the final period. Following Bonds' trey, NMHU scored six straight points to push out to a 73-66 lead with 2:22 left in the period.
 
From the point, the Pack would chip at that lead as Little scored five straight points to cut NMHU's lead to 73-71 with 1:16 remaining, but NMHU would cap the scoring by making four of six free throws in the final 63 seconds to seal the win.
 
Salazar, who entered the game averaging 6.9 points per game on the season, paced the Cowgirls with 24 points and added six steals, while Anitelu and Juliana Aragon each tallied 19 points and Aniya Johnson had 10 points. The Cowgirls bench outscored the Pack's bench, 21-14, in the game.
 
The Pack held a 43-33 edge on the boards as along with Little's 19 rebounds, Bonds added eight boards, along with seven points. Eva Ongoongatau led NMHU with 10 rebounds.
 
The Pack dished out 14 assists on 20 made baskets as Johnson and Bonds combined for seven, while NMHU had 13 assists and 16 steals. CSU Pueblo collected 10 steals as they forced 17 turnovers, including 11 turnovers in the second half, that led to 23 points for the Pack.
 
CSU Pueblo will look to start a new home court win streak next Thursday, Jan. 30 as the Pack continues its four-game home stand with a 5:30 p.m. game against Colorado Mesa (13-4 overall, 8-2 RMAC). The Mavericks, who picked up a 70-52 home win over the Pack in a non-conference game on Nov. 20, has won six straight games and is tied with Western Colorado for first place in the RMAC standings.