DENVER – The Regis University women's basketball team bookended a three-game homestand to start the season with a strong start, but ultimately, fell to a resilient CSU-Pueblo in overtime, 68-63, at Regis Field House on Saturday.
 
How It Happened: Only 36 seconds into overtime with the game tied, 58-58, the game's all-important one lead change occurred. A foul sent junior forward/center Sydni Williams to the free-throw line where she sank both her attempts, giving the ThunderWolves a 60-58 advantage.
 
CSU-Pueblo held onto a 62-61 lead in overtime with 2:08 left before the buzzer when sophomore guard JaNaiya Davis sank a jumper and was fouled in the act of shooting to put CSUP up, 64-61. This was all the ThunderWolves needed, but Davis's successful free throw made the score, 65-61. 
 
With just four seconds left in overtime, junior guard Hanna Diaz added extra insurance at the charity stripe with a free throw, 68-63.
 
The game looked like it was going in the Rangers' favor early. Freshman guard Kali Murrell put Regis on the board just 1:04 into the game with a 3-pointer off a pass from junior guard Tashika Burrell to give RU a 3-0 lead.
 
This preceded a 10-0 run, which commenced on freshman guard Morgan R. Smith's trey with 2:46 to go in the first quarter and was capped off by freshman guard Sydney Daniels' layup, which made the score, 22-9, with 1:11 left in the opening 10 minutes.
 
The Rangers did not trail during the first half and led by as many as 17 when Daniels sank both of her free throws with 8:43 left in the second quarter.
 
All of this led to a seemingly comfortable, 36-23 lead for Regis at the intermission. RU came to that advantage after junior guard Emma Sterkel sank both her free throws with 37 seconds to go before the half.
 
The ThunderWolves then spent the next 20 minutes chipping away at RU's advantage while holding the Rangers to back-to-back, 11-point quarters. 
 
This effort culminated in Davis draining both her free throws to tie the game at 58-58, which was the score that forced the game into overtime with just nine seconds remaining in regulation.
 
Game Notes: Smith led Regis with 13 points to go along with two assists. Junior forward Grace O'Neill had a team-high eight rebounds in addition to eight points and a steal. Sterkel had a game-high six assists, along with eight points, six rebounds and a share of the game-high four steals. Senior forward Jaz'Myne Snipes, who fouled out, scored 10 points and had three rebounds, one assist and a steal. Junior forward Whitney Jacob, who had a point, four rebounds, an assist and a steal, and freshman forward Sydney Speights, who contributed five points and seven rebounds, both fouled out as well. 

Up Next for the Rangers: RU falls to a 1-2 record overall. The Rangers now travel to Seattle, Wash., where they will play Concordia (Ore.) (0-4) on the front end of the Nov. 22-23 Seattle Pacific University Classic at Brougham Pavilion on Friday at 5 p.m. MT.