ALAMOSA, Colo. – The Regis University women's basketball team played the fourth and final game of its road trip against Adams State and struggled against the Grizzlies' offense which overpowered the Rangers, 73-56, at Plachy Hall Gym on Saturday.
 
How It Happened: With the Rangers trailing 55-40 in the fourth, ASU senior guard Zakiya Beckles sailed a trey through the basket to increase the Grizzlies' advantage to 58-40 with 7:21 to go in the game. Beckles' basket put the game out of reach from Regis.
 
Treys were falling in the fourth as the teams combined for eight of them. In fact, junior guard Tashika Burrell scored the game's final points on account of a 3-pointer when she converted hers with only 15 seconds to go before the final buzzer to progress the contest to its final result.
 
RU ended the scoreless tie to start the game on junior forward Whitney Jacob's trey to put the Rangers up, 3-0, just 21 seconds into the game.
 
They last reacquired the lead, 6-5, on Burrell's 3-pointer with 7:53 left in the opening quarter.
 
However, Adams State answered with a 9-0 run, which started on senior guard Marshell Hollins' layup at the 6:09 mark of the first and ended on another layup by junior guard Paiton Demps with 2:19 remaining in the first to carry ASU to a 14-6 lead.
 
The Grizzlies closed out the first with a pair of free throws from sophomore forward Kassie Schell to extend the Adams State advantage to 16-11 with 5 seconds left.
 
A 6-0 run followed suit in the second quarter for ASU, which began on redshirt junior guard Danielle Jimenez's 3-point play of a layup and free throw at the second quarter's 8:28 mark and ceased on Demps' trey 7:47 prior to the intermission.
 
The teams traded baskets for the next four possessions while RU could only trail by as few as nine on three occasions. The last of these instances occurred when Jacob hit a layup with 3:19 on the clock in the second to shrink the Rangers' deficit to 32-23 and marked the last time Regis scored in the first half. The Grizzlies then tacked on five more points to close the opening 20 minutes with Schell's two free throws at the 2:06 mark and freshman guard Laura Gutierrez's 3-pointer with 6 seconds left. Gutierrez's trey sent the contest to a halftime score of 37-23.  
 
Both teams went scoreless for more than 3:00 to start the third. But that did not stop Adams State from completing a 10-0 run that was bridged over from the first half. The run finally halted on Hollins' trey with 6:21 to go in the third and gave ASU a commanding 42-23 advantage.
 
Hollins later assembled a 7-0 run of her own, consisting of a trey at the 5:29 mark and two layups with the latter layup transpiring with 3:58 to go in the third for a 49-26 Grizzlies lead.
 
Regis eventually found some momentum at the free-throw line where freshman forward Sydney Speights, freshman guard Sydney Daniels and freshman guard Kali Murrell each sank a pair of free throws for a 6-0 run. Speights started it with 2:22 to go in the third, and Murrell capped it at the 1:13 mark, bringing the game to a 52-36 RU deficit. 
 
Gutierrez nailed the third frame's last basket with her free throw 43 seconds before the third concluded and moved the game to a 53-37 Adams State advantage. 
 
Game Notes: Jacob led RU with a team-high 16 points to go along with a share of the game-high seven rebounds, a share of the team-high two assists, and a game-high three blocks. Junior guard Emma Sterkel collected 12 points, two rebounds, and a share of the team-high two assists. Burrell ended with eight points in addition to four rebounds, and a share of the team-high two assists. Daniels recorded two points, three rebounds, one assist, and a share of the team-high one steal. Murrell contributed seven points as well as two rebounds, one assist, and a share of the team-high one steal, while freshman guard Morgan R. Smith was all over the stat sheet and registered three points, two rebounds, one assist, one block, and a share of the team-high one steal.
 
ASU made eight more shots from the paint than the Rangers. The Grizzlies finished with a 23-for-60 (38.3 percent) showing from that area, while Regis made 15 of 51 (29.4 percent) from the paint.
 
Up Next for the Rangers: RU drops to a 7-12 record overall and a 5-8 record in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) play. The Rangers return to Regis Field House to start a four-game homestand against Colorado Mesa (16-3, 12-1 RMAC) on Friday at 5 p.m.