DENVER – The Regis University women's basketball team ended a three-game skid on Saturday at Regis Field House, doing so with a quality win against Western Colorado, 56-52.
 
How It Happened: Holding onto a narrow 51-50 lead with 33 seconds left in regulation, Rangers junior guard Tashika Burrell maintained her poise under the pressure and drilled both of her free-throw attempts to increase the Regis lead to three, 53-50. This margin eventually was proven to be too large for the Mountaineers.
 
With 6 seconds to go before the final buzzer, freshman guard Sydney Daniels added cushioning to the RU lead with two more free throws and moved the contest to its final result.
 
Junior forward Whitney Jacob started the game off for the Rangers, hitting a jumper 14 seconds into the game for a quick 2-0 advantage.
 
Regis later assembled a 5-0 run that commenced on junior guard Emma Sterkel's jumper with 5:44 to go in the first and concluded on Burrell's free throw with 3:22 left in the first. The latter point put RU up, 14-6.
 
However, Western Colorado closed out the first by scoring five points of an eventual 9-0 run. This kicked off on senior guard/forward Gabie Doud's layup at the 1:19 mark of the first and finally ceased on a layup from junior forward Katie Dalton. Dalton's layup tripled WCU's lead to three, 19-16, with 8:34 remaining in the first half.
 
The Rangers later faced a four-point deficit, which they erased and then some on a 6-0 run further down the second quarter. Senior forward Jaz'Myne Snipes sank a 3-pointer at the 4:57 mark to get the run rolling while a layup and free throw from freshman forward Sydney Speights caused a lead change and extended it with 3:55 and 3:08 on the clock, respectively. Speights's free throw capped the run and made the score, 26-24.
 
Regis went into the break with a 31-28 lead, but the Mountaineers had the first half's final basket on junior forward Mikaela Parker's jumper with 1:07 to play in the opening 20 minutes.
 
The third quarter was an especially low scoring effort for both teams as they combined for 14 in that 10-minute span. In fact, Regis scored the first five points of the quarter, and Western Colorado ended it with a 9-0 run.
 
Jacob's jumper at the 9:21 mark started RU's run, and Snipes's free throw ended it with 8:05 remaining in the third. With her free throw, Snipes grew the Rangers' lead to eight, 36-28. But that lead began to get erased on junior guard/forward Jessie Erickson's pair of free throws with 6:50 left in the third, and WCU retook the lead, 37-36, on junior guard Samantha Coleman's trey with 12 seconds to play in the third. Coleman's score was the final one of the third.
 
After a Jacob go-ahead layup, 38-37, to begin the fourth at the 8:42 mark, the Mountaineers went on a 5-0 run, consisting of a Dalton tie-breaking layup with 8:17 remaining and a Coleman 3-pointer with 7:35 to go. Coleman's trey gave Western Colorado a 45-40 advantage.
 
The game reached its fifth and final tie, 50-50, on WCU freshman guard Hannah Cooper's two free throws at the 1:35 mark of the fourth. 
 
Fortunately, Snipes broke that tie with a free throw, 51-50, with 51 seconds to go before the final buzzer.
 
Game Notes: Jacob scored a team-high 12 points and contributed a team-high eight rebounds (all defensive), and shares of the team-high two steals and game-high one block. Snipes finished with 11 points, six rebounds, one assist, and shares of the team-high two steals and game-high one block. Daniels contributed two points, one rebound, one assist, and shares of the team-high two steals and game-high one block. Sterkel matched those three players for the share of the team-high two steals and had nine points, two rebounds and two assists. Freshman guard Morgan R. Smith put up 11 points, two rebounds and one assist. Burrell posted five points, four rebounds, and a share of the game-high three assists. Speights recorded six points, three rebounds, one assist, and a share of the game-high one block.
 
Regis shot slightly better than the Mountaineers for the game and hit two more 3-pointers than Western Colorado. RU went 21-for-49 (42.9 percent) from the paint, while WCU finished with a 19-for-46 (41.3 percent) showing from the field. The Rangers had a 4-for-22 (18.2 percent) performance from long range, and the Mountaineers put up a 2-for-12 (16.7 percent) result from behind the arc.
 
Up Next for the Rangers: Regis improves to an 8-13 record overall and a 6-9 record in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) play. RU enters the back half of its homestand when it hosts Adams State (3-18, 3-12 RMAC) at Regis Field House on Friday at 5 p.m.