GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – The Regis University women's basketball team concluded its final multi-game road trip with a significant 77-64 victory over No. 19 Colorado Mesa at Brownson Arena on Saturday.
 
How It Happened: Keeping a comfortable 64-46 lead with 7:12 to go in the fourth quarter, junior forward Jaz'Myne Snipes sank a pair of free throws to extend the Rangers' lead to 66-46. This would be all Regis would need for the rest of the game. 
 
The final 10 minutes consisted of mostly small scoring runs, and a trey from Mavericks junior forward Kelsey Siemons with only 10 seconds left in the contest moved the score to its final result.
 
RU experienced a multi-possession deficit to start the game for the second time in as many days. This time, the home team opened the contest with a 7-0 run, starting with junior forward Sierra McNicol's layup 34 seconds into the game and ending with senior guard Sydni Brandon's trey at the 8:05 mark of the first.
 
Junior forward Whitney Jacob's jumper put the Rangers on the board, 7-2, with 7:03 to go in the opening 10 minutes.
 
Down 10-6, Regis then fell victim to a 9-0 run. A jumper from McNicol kicked the run off at the 4:46 mark of the first, and a layup from junior guard Daniella Turner extended the Mavericks' lead, 19-6, while capping the run with 1:41 left in the opening quarter.
 
RU's offense finally gained momentum with a 7-0 run to close out the first. Junior guard Emma Sterkel drilled a 3-pointer to get it going, and junior forward Grace O'Neill's layup ended the run and the first quarter's scoring with 31 seconds remaining. O'Neill's layup trimmed the Rangers' deficit to 19-13.
 
Regis gradually chipped away at the Colorado Mesa lead and eventually tied CMU, 25-25, on a Jacob trey at the 6:11 clock reading of the second.
 
A 7-0 run followed for RU, and this run took effect on O'Neill's layup with 3:32 left. The Rangers broke the 32-32 tie on Snipes's trey at the 1:22 mark of the second, concluding the run while making the score in Regis's favor, 32-29.
 
RU went into halftime with a 34-32 lead. Turner's free throw 16 seconds before the buzzer was the final point of the first half.
 
Though the Rangers briefly lost their lead, 35-34, on a 3-pointer from Siemons only 17 seconds into the second half, Regis answered with a 6-0 run that consisted of back-to-back treys from freshman guard Morgan R. Smith with 9:01 to go in the third and Jacob at the 8:20 mark. Jacob's 3-pointer pushed RU to a 40-35 advantage.
 
Maintaining a 40-37 lead with 4:49 left in the third, the Rangers rolled off a 10-0 run, including eight straight from Jacob to start the run. Jacob's trey started the run, and a layup from junior guard Tashika Burrell closed it at the 3:25 mark of the third to give Regis a commanding 50-37 lead. 
 
RU did not take its foot off the pedal. Instead, it tacked on an 8-0 run that Burrell began and finished on a jumper and free throw, respectively. Burrell's free throw grew the Rangers' advantage to 61-40.
 
A Jacob free throw was the last point of the third, bringing Regis to a lead of 62-43 with less than a second on the clock.
 
Game Notes: Jacob led RU with game-highs of 24 points and 11 rebounds to go along with two assists, and the game's only block. Burrell contributed 17 points, five rebounds, two assists and one steal. O'Neill concluded with 11 points, three rebounds, one assist, and a share of the game-high four steals. Snipes was responsible for 10 points, six rebounds, one assist and two steals. Sterkel added five points, four rebounds, a game-high seven assists, and one steal.
 
The Rangers dominated in the field against the Mavericks. Regis made 26 of 53 (49.1 percent) compared to Colorado Mesa's 24-for-66 (36.4 percent) effort from the paint. In addition, RU hit 11 of 23 (47.8 percent) from long range while CMU only had a 7-for-31 (22.6 percent) performance from behind the arc.
 
Up Next for the Rangers: The Rangers climb to an 11-14 record overall and a 9-10 record in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) play. Regis returns home to begin its final homestand of the 2019-20 regular season when it hosts Dixie State (16-9, 11-8 RMAC) at Regis Field House on Friday at 5 p.m.