DENVER – The Regis University women's basketball team took on No. 12 West Texas A&M but fell behind early and ended up in a 64-44 loss at Regis Field House on Saturday.
 
How It Happened: With 2:21 to go in the third quarter, Lady Buffs senior guard Megan Gamble hit the first of two free-throw attempts to give West Texas A&M a 45-30 lead. From that point on, the Rangers could not catch up.
 
WTA&M had a lead as large as 23 with 7:10 remaining in the game when senior post Tiana Parker made a layup, bringing the Lady Buffs to a 55-32 lead.  
 
The Rangers and West Texas A&M experienced an offensive tug-of-war that resulted in multiple lead changes to start the contest. Regis grabbed its first lead on a layup from junior forward Whitney Jacob, giving RU a 4-2 advantage with 7:44 left in the first quarter.
 
RU led by as many as four when junior guard Tashika Burrell's layup brought the Rangers to a 17-13 lead with 7:52 remaining in the second.
 
However, WTA&M broke away from Regis on a 7-0 run, which commenced on sophomore guard Delaney Nix's 3-pointer at the 7:16 mark of the second and ended on sophomore guard Sienna Lenz's free throw at 3:37 to go in the first half. The lead was never relinquished after that.
 
Game Notes: Jacob finished with a game-high 16 points to go along with three rebounds, one assist and a steal. Junior guard Emma Sterkel ended with a team-high five rebounds, while junior forward Grace O'Neill claimed the team-high in assists, with three, and a share of the game-high three steals.
 
RU only made a third of its shots from the paint, going 9 for 27 (33.0%) in the opening 20 minutes, with a 19-for-59 (32.2%) showing for the game. In contrast, WTA&M made half of its shots from the same area, hitting 11 of 22 (50.0%) in the first 20 minutes, and converted 22 of 42 (52.4%) for the contest.
 
Unfortunately, the Rangers missed all 17 of their 3-point attempts in the game.
 
Up Next for the Rangers: Regis drops to a 1-1 record overall. RU will next host CSU-Pueblo (0-2) in a non-conference contest at Regis Field House on Saturday at 3 p.m.