SALT LAKE CITY – The Regis University women's basketball team held its own during the opening 20 minutes of its Friday night game at No. 17 Westminster but two double-digit runs in the second half by the Griffins proved costly and resulted in a 73-57 loss at Benkehn Field House.
 
How It Happened: Just 11 seconds left in the third quarter with the Rangers down, 57-48, Griffins junior point guard Mariah Martin's jumper gave Westminster a 59-48 advantage to end the third quarter, which ended up being enough points to secure WC the victory.
 
Regis managed to cut the deficit down to 10, 65-55, when junior forward Whitney Jacob hit a jumper with 2:56 left in regulation.
 
However, a free throw from junior forward Hunter Krebs with only 41 seconds to go before the final buzzer carried the game to its final score and the Griffins to their largest lead.
 
Junior guard Emma Sterkel started RU off on the winning side with a layup just 51 seconds into the contest for an early 2-0 lead.
 
Three lead changes then transpired during the first quarter. The last of these occurred when senior guard Rian Rawlings put Westminster ahead, 12-10, on account of a trey with 3:49 left in the first.
 
Not long before the first quarter ended, freshman guard Morgan R. Smith cut a four-point deficit in half, 16-14, with her layup at the 1-second mark. Smith's basket kicked off a 6-0 run that was capped off by Smith's go-ahead jumper to help the Rangers retake the lead, 18-16, with 9:38 to go in the second.
 
The second quarter saw six ties and five lead changes in all. But after WC junior forward Sarah McGinley's 3-pointer knotted the game up at 32-32 with 3:25 left before halftime, Regis closed out the first half on a 5-0 run, which started on a jumper by Jacob and ended on a trey from freshman guard Kali Murrell at the 2:23 and 1:47 marks of the second quarter, respectively. The latter score brought RU to a 37-32 advantage, which it took into the intermission.
 
The Griffins erased their deficit to begin the third quarter with a 5-0 run, starting with Krebs' layup only 11 seconds into the second half and ending with McGinley's trey at the 9:04 mark. McGinley's basket tied the game, 37-37.
 
The Rangers later led by as many as five again, 46-41, after senior forward Jaz'Myne Snipes drilled a 3-pointer with 6:28 remaining in the third.
 
Unfortunately, Westminster answered with an 11-0 run. Martin's layup kicked it off at the 6:00 mark of the third, and it stopped after McGinley's jumper made the score, 52-46, with 2:10 to go in the third quarter.
 
WC then went on a 7-0 run to end the third, which came to be on Krebs' 3-pointer at the 1:33 mark and rested after the aforementioned jumper from Martin 11 seconds before the quarter ended.
 
A trey from McGinley at the 9:33 mark of the fourth extended the run to 10-0, where it was capped while bringing the Griffins to a 14-point, 62-48 lead.  
 
Game Notes: Sterkel led Regis with 18 points to go along with three assists and one steal. Jacob secured a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds in addition to one assist and a share of the team-high one block. Snipes finished with six points, two rebounds, and a share of the game-high two steals. Junior guard Tashika Burrell had a share of the game-high four assists as well as five points and three rebounds. 
 
In the end, RU was outscored by the Griffins, 28-14, in the paint and was outrebounded, 43-29. This included a 34-19 deficit in defensive rebounds.
 
Up Next for the Rangers: The Rangers drop to a 6-10 record overall and a 4-6 record in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) play. Regis continues its road trip at Dixie State (12-4, 7-3 RMAC) at Burns Arena on Saturday at 5:30 p.m.