DENVER – The Regis University women's basketball team commenced its last homestand of the 2019-20 season with a thrilling finish in which the Rangers forced overtime before falling to Dixie State, 63-56, at Regis Field House on Friday.
 
How It Happened: Facing a 49-47 deficit with 50 seconds to go in regulation, junior forward Jaz'Myne Snipes made a layup to tie the game at 49-49, which is how it ended after 40 minutes.
 
Unfortunately, the Trailblazers reacquired the lead on junior guard Keslee Stevenson's fastbreak 3-pointer, 52-49, just 34 seconds into overtime and did not surrender it.
 
A layup by Dixie State senior forward Chesney Stevens later put the game out of reach for the Rangers, bringing DSU to a 57-53 lead with 2:03 left in overtime.
 
After junior guard Emma Sterkel drilled a trey with 1:19 left to bring Regis within one, 57-56, the Trailblazers ended the game on a 6-0 run, started by free throws from senior forward Ali Franks at the 1:05 mark and ended with sophomore guard London Pavlica's free throw with less than a second to play. Pavlica's free throw moved the score to its final result.
 
While Dixie State ended the game on a 6-0 run, it started the contest with an 8-0 run. Stevens kicked it off with a layup 17 seconds after the opening tipoff, and it ceased after a Franks jumper at the 6:40 clock reading of the first quarter.
 
Not discouraged by the early 8-0 deficit, RU responded with a 10-0 run. Junior guard Tashika Burrell stopped the scoreless drought at the 5:51 mark with a 3-pointer and junior forward Whitney Jacob's go-ahead layup gave the Rangers a 10-8 lead with 3:53 remaining in the first.
 
Additionally, Regis closed the first on a 6-0 run, coming to life on Jacob's free throw with 1:56 on the clock and stopping after Burrell's layup 22 seconds before the opening quarter ended. Burrell's basket gave RU a 16-10 lead.
 
DSU proceeded to tie the game at 20-20 at the end of its 7-0 run in the second. A jumper from freshman guard Breaunna Gillen started it off at the 3:06 mark of the second, and a layup from junior center Makayla Johnson capped it with 2:17 to go before halftime.
 
The Trailblazers tied the game at 22-22 going into the half. This occurred on a Franks jumper with 42 seconds left in the first half.
 
Several minutes into the third quarter, the Rangers turned a four-point deficit into a four-point lead with an 8-0 run, which began on Burrell's 3-pointer at the 4:30 mark of the third. A trey from junior forward Grace O'Neill with 3:14 remaining in the third brought Regis to a 36-32 advantage.
 
Dixie State took the lead back to end the third, leading by a score of 40-36. What started as a quarter-ending, 8-0 run eventually grew into a 12-0 run minutes into the fourth. The run came to be on a Stevens layup at the 2:06 mark of the third, and included a trey from Franks to end the quarter with only 2 seconds on the clock. The run itself was concluded on a Franks layup with 7:03 to go in the fourth. The Franks layup gave DSU a 44-36 lead.
 
However, after a Franks jumper at the 6:05 mark of the fourth to give the Trailblazers a considerable, 49-38 lead, RU managed to chase down Dixie State to force overtime with an 11-0 run to end regulation. A layup from Jacob began the momentum shift with 5:45 to go before the final buzzer, and the aforementioned basket from Snipes tied the game and ended the run for the Rangers.
 
Game Notes: Burrell led Regis with 15 points and had five rebounds, a team-high two assists, and two steals. Jacob recorded another double-double with her 11 points and game-high 13 rebounds. Snipes scored six points and registered five rebounds, a share of the team-high one block, and a career-high and game-high five steals. Freshman forward Sydney Speights matched Snipes for the share of the team-high one block and also had two points, one rebound, and one steal.
 
RU claimed a 27-8 advantage in points off the bench in the game. However, DSU blanked the Rangers in fast-break points, 14-0, for the 45-minute contest.
 
Up Next for the Rangers: Regis falls to an 11-15 record overall and a 9-11 record in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) play. RU will honor its seniors during Senior Night as it hosts Westminster (20-6, 15-5 RMAC) in its final regular-season home game of the season at Regis Field House on Saturday at 3 p.m.