ST. GEORGE, Utah – The Regis University women's basketball team finished the Utah stretch of its road trip with a crucial 77-68 victory over Dixie State at Burns Arena on Saturday.
 
How It Happened: Holding onto a 68-63 lead over the Trailblazers, senior forward Jaz'Myne Snipes drilled a trey with 1:47 remaining in regulation and yielded the Rangers a 71-63 lead, which proved to be the game-winning basket. 
 
Regis then finished the game at the free-throw line, hitting six shots from there. Junior guard Tashika Burrell's two free throws increased the RU lead to nine while bringing the contest to its final score, just 2 seconds prior to the final buzzer.
 
A pair of free throws by junior forward Grace O'Neill started the game off right for the Rangers, who led, 2-0, 1:53 into the game.
 
Six lead changes and two ties followed in the opening 10 minutes. But after a 3-pointer from Dixie State senior forward Ali Franks at the 3:11 mark of the first that broke a 14-14 tie, Regis went on a 7-0 run to end the quarter. O'Neill started it with a jumper with 1:49 to go while a trey from freshman guard Kali Murrell capped it with 4 seconds remaining and put RU up by four, 21-17.
 
Not long into the second frame, the Rangers assembled a 12-0 run, sparked by Snipes' 3-point play on a jumper and free throw with 8:41 to go in the second. A Murrell jumper extended the run for the last time with 2:29 on the clock before halftime and gave Regis a commanding 33-19 lead.
 
The momentum began to drift away from RU as DSU closed out the first half with a 7-0 run. Franks' 3-pointer kicked it off at the 2:06 mark of the second and her free throws, which occurred just 25 seconds prior to halftime, were the first half's final points and trimmed the Trailblazers' deficit in half, 33-26, at halftime.
 
That run grew to 10-0 and ceased on senior guard Madi Loftus' trey to begin the second half, reducing the Rangers' lead to 33-29 with 9:19 remaining in the third quarter. 
 
Dixie State came within a point of tying the game, 35-34, when Loftus sank another 3-pointer with 7:48 to go in the third.
 
However, Regis gradually built back its lead and concluded the third with junior guard Emma Sterkel's successful free-throw line trip at the 1-second mark to put RU up by six, 54-48.
 
The lead returned to double digits on account of junior forward Whitney Jacob's 8:53 layup for an 11-point, 61-50 advantage.
 
A 7-0 DSU run followed and commenced with Loftus' pair of free throws, and Franks finished it with a jumper at the 4:38 mark of the fourth. Franks' jumper shrunk the Rangers' advantage to 61-57.  
 
Game Notes: Snipes scored a team-high 25 points to go along with four rebounds, one assist and one steal. O'Neill added 16 points, six rebounds, one block and two steals. Sterkel contributed 13 points, three rebounds, and a share of the team-high six assists. Murrell collected 11 points and two rebounds. Burrell matched Sterkel for the team-high six assists and also had seven points, four rebounds and two steals. Jacob recorded five points, a game-high 13 rebounds, one block, and a game-high three steals. Freshman forward Sydney Speights ended with two rebounds and a share of the game-high two blocks.
 
Regis reaped the benefits from many of its turnovers and outscored the Trailblazers by a tally of 19-11 for the game. RU additionally made six more free throws than Dixie State, 15-9.
 
Up Next for the Rangers: The Rangers improve to a 7-10 record overall and a 5-6 record in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) play. Regis begins the back half of its road trip at Fort Lewis (11-5, 7-4 RMAC) at FLC Whalen Gymnasium on Friday at 5:30 p.m.