PUEBLO, Colo. – Colorado State University Pueblo women's basketball could not withstand a late push here Saturday afternoon from Western Colorado in falling 67-61 to the Mountaineers in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference action at Massari Arena.

With the setback, the ThunderWolves fall to 4-5 overall and 1-1 in the RMAC, while Western Colorado improved to 3-3 overall and 1-1 in the RMAC.

In Saturday's game, which completed a season-long six-game homestand for the Pack, the Pack led for more than 30 minutes, but was outscored 43-31 in the second half after holding a 30-24 halftime lead. Saturday's game featured four ties and seven lead changes, with three of those ties and five of those lead changes occurring in the second half.

Junior guard Wynter Jones (Dallas, Texas/Blinn College) led the way offensively for the Pack as she tallied a season-high 12 points and added five rebounds and five steals. In addition to Jones, junior forward Dasani Nesbit (Billings, Mont./Gillette College) and senior guard Ruby Sweeney-Spitzeck (Melbourne, Australia/Idaho State) added 10 points each. Junior forward Laci Roffle (Aurora, Colo./MSU Denver) and senior guard Genesis Sweetwine (Aurora, Colo./Northeastern JC) both had nine points in the setback.

Nesbit also pulled down seven rebounds as the Pack held a 34-26 advantage on the boards, including holding a 14-5 edge on the offensive glass. The Pack scored 12 second chance points off those 14 offensive boards. 

After leading 30-22 at the half, Western Colorado used a 14-4 run to turn a 38-30 third quarter deficit into a 44-42 lead with 51 seconds left in the quarter. The Pack, though, retook the lead 27 seconds later on a 3-pointer from Sweeney-Spitzeck, before WCU's Alyssa Eckroth made 1-of-2 free throws with one second left in the quarter to tie the game at 45 heading into the final quarter.

The Pack opened the final quarter on a 9-5 run to take a 54-50 lead following a lay-up by Nesbit, but the Mountaineers used a 5-0 run to retake the lead at 55-54 7:07 left in the game. Following that lead by WCU, the Pack would respond and retake the lead at 56-55 with 4:52 left in the game following a lay-up by Sweeney-Spitzeck.

That would be the final lead of the game for the Pack as the Mountainers used a 7-0 run to push out to a 62-56 lead. After Jones hit two free throws with 1:13 left to cut WCU's lead to 62-58, the Mountaineers would make five of its final six free throws in the final 35 seconds to hold off the Pack and post the comeback win.  

The Mountaineers second-half comeback was aided by 64 percent shooting from the field, including 67 percent shooting from the field in the fourth quarter as the Pack were outscored, 22-16 in the final period.

WCU was led offensively by 21 points each from Eckroth and Ivey Schmidt, while Jayda Maves added 15 points in the win.

The Pack opened the game shooting 50 percent from the field and 67 percent from the 3-point line in the first quarter. The ThunderWolves jumped in front 7-2 after a trey from Roffle. WCU briefly took its only lead of the quarter at 12-11 on a lay-up by Maves, before the Pack closed the quarter on a 7-0 run capped by a Jones lay-up to take an 18-12 lead after the opening 10 minutes.

CSU Pueblo opened the second period on a 9-3 run to take its largest lead of the game at 27-15 with 4:38 left in the period. The Mountaineers, though, closed the quarter on a 9-3 run to cut the Pack's lead to 30-24 at the half.

For the game, the Pack shot 38 percent from the field and 33 percent from the 3-point line, while Western Colorado shot 52 percent from the field and 46 percent from the 3-point line. 

WCU was able to pick up the win despite shooting just 67 percent (18-for-27) at the line. The Pack finished the game shooting 75 percent (12-for-16) at the line. 

The two teams combined for 37 turnovers in the game as the Pack had a season-high tying 19 turnovers that led to 17 points for the Mountaineers, while the Pack scored 15 points off of WCU's 18 turnovers. 

The Pack also finished the game with a 17-12 edge in assists, including five from Sweetwine and had 11 steals to five for the Mountaineers. Both teams recorded four blocks in the game. 

CSU Pueblo, who finished the six-game home stand with a 3-3 record, will return to action next week as they hit the road for the first time in RMAC play as they open the road trip with an 11 a.m. MT game on Thursday, Dec. 11 at Chadron State and two days later on Saturday, Dec. 13, the Pack plays a 1 p.m. game at South Dakota Mines.