DURANGO, Colo. – The Regis University women's basketball team led for most of the first half but ended up on the losing end of a 54-48 score-line against Fort Lewis College on Saturday afternoon. Regis' loss moved them to 5-7 overall and 4-3 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference.
 
How it Happened: Junior Shelby Espinosa rebounded her own missed layup then stepped back and made a jumper outside the paint to give the Rangers their first bucket and tie the score at two just two-minutes into the game. Senior Chante Church was fouled on RU's next possession. She sank both free throws to give her team the first lead of the contest.
 
With one-minute left in the first quarter, senior Majestie Robinson made Regis' first three-pointer to stretch their lead to four (12-8). The Skyhawks were able to make a layup before time expired and found themselves down 12-10 going into the second quarter.
 
Freshman Whitney Jacob opened the second quarter with two made free-throws and made a jumper assisted by freshman Emma Sterkel to expand the Rangers advantage to three (18-15). RU held a four-point lead with four minutes to play in the first half but the Skyhawks went on a 4-0 run to tie the game at 19. They ended the half on another 4-0 run and lead 23-21 going into the break.
 
Regis fought hard and managed to tie the game on three separate occasions in the second half but were unable to take the lead.
 
Robinson made a three-pointer on the Rangers third second half possession to keep them within striking distance, 26-24, but RU was on the wrong side of another 4-0 run that gave the Skyhawks a 30-24 lead. Another Robinson basket from behind the arc evened the game at 34 with 3:54 remaining in the third quarter. The teams traded buckets throughout the quarter and went into the fourth quarter 40-39 after Jacobs scored the last points with 12 seconds to play.
 
The Skyhawks scored six straight points and held their largest lead of the game, 46-39, before Robinson made yet another three-pointer to get Regis going. They made key defensive stops and pulled within two after a made layup by Sterkel with 6:12 left on the game-clock.
 
Neither team scored for the next two-minutes until Robinson converted two shots from the charity stripe to tie the game at 46 with three-minutes to play. The Rangers were unable to keep up with the Skyhawks offense in the final two minutes as Fort Lewis pulled away. RU got within two (50-48) with 32 seconds to play but elected to let the game-clock wind down to nine seconds before fouling to force free-throws.
 
The Skyhawks went 4-for-4 from the foul line to close out the game 54-48.
 
Game Notes: Robinson was the only Regis player in double-digit scoring with 16 points. She went 4-for-8 from downtown and 5-for-13 from the field. The Rangers made just 30.8 percent of their shots as the Skyhawks had a shooting percentage of 40.8.
 
Robinson and sophomore Jaz'Myne Snipes each had a team-high two assists.
 
Espinosa led all rebounders with 11 total, five offensive and six defensive. RU out-rebounded Fort Lewis 41-28.
 
Regis' defense forced 14 turnovers but their offense gave up 19. Espinosa had two steals with Snipes and junior Morgan Ducklow both adding one.
 
Up Next for the Rangers: The women's basketball team finished their four-game away stretch and will return home to face Western State Colorado University on January 5 at 5:00 p.m.