DENVER – The Regis University women's basketball team bounced back from a loss earlier in the week and defeated formidable Colorado Mesa, 65-59, with solid shooting at Regis Field House on Friday.
 
"Our comeback after losing to Metro[politan State University of Denver], we know we didn't play well on Tuesday or as well as we like or as well as we have been playing so I feel like we've grown a lot," said Regis University Head Women's Basketball Coach Molly Marrin. "So Metro was kind of a dip for us, and so the way that they recovered after that, we know that a week and a half of regular season to fight to get into the RMAC Tournament that everything matters so the bounce-back is probably the thing I am most proud of. [I am also proud of] The teamwork. We had 17 assists. That's a season-high. I don't even have to look that one up; I know that, and so, I thought that was huge.
 
"Some of the keys that we did: We got to the free-throw line, shot well there, took some smarter 3-point shots. But again, just the teamwork. I think defensively, we had some goals against them. They are tough, they've got probably more sets than any in the league so I think we held their key players to taking really tough shots, and so I thought that the team defense was incredible, and just again, the bounce-back speaks to the character and integrity of these kids and their fight and what they want for the rest of their season so I'm really proud of them."
 
How It Happened: Maintaining a 58-54 lead with the Mavericks closing in at the 1:55 mark of the fourth quarter, sophomore forward Morgan L. Smith made a layup to grow the Rangers' lead back to 60-54, which was sufficient enough to fend off Colorado Mesa.
 
In an effort to stop the clock and limit Regis to just free throws, CMU fouled RU five times in the final 22 seconds of the contest. Senior forward Whitney Jacob hit a pair of free throws, and freshman guard Erin Fry tacked on one more at the 16-second and 5-second clock readings of the fourth, respectively. It was Fry's free throw that transitioned the game to its final score.
 
Jacob put the Rangers ahead early, 2-0, on a jumper 32 seconds into the game. A jumper from Mavericks senior forward Sierra McNicol tied the game, 2-2, at the 9:07 mark of the first, which was the game's only deadlock.
 
The contest consisted mostly of short runs in the opening quarter. However, Regis then went on an 11-0 run that it took into the end of the frame. This run came to fruition on senior guard Tashika Burrell's trey with 3:20 to play in the first and stretched to freshman forward Olivia Pitrof's pair of free throws at the 56-second clock reading of the first. RU led by a score of 23-9 at the end of the opening 10 minutes.
 
Pitrof proceeded to extend the run to a 13-0 one on a jumper just 32 seconds into the second quarter, which is where the run ended and gave the Rangers a 25-9 advantage.
 
Jacob would later score five straight points for Regis, beginning the run on a layup with 1:38 left in the second and capping it with a three-point play on a jumper and free throw. The three-point play took RU to a 36-20 lead at the 51-second mark of the second quarter.
 
A jumper from Colorado Mesa redshirt sophomore guard Natalie Bartle with 31 seconds to go in the second made the score, 36-22, which is what the score read at halftime.
 
Bartle also scored the second half's first points on another jumper only 7 seconds into the third, cutting the Rangers' lead to 36-24.
 
CMU then went on an 8-0 run. Bartle opened it with a 3-pointer at 8:43 reading on the clock, and senior forward Kelsey Siemons closed it with a trey. Siemons' 3-pointer brought the Mavericks to within six of Regis, 38-32, with 7:40 remaining in the third.
 
A free throw by McNicol allowed Colorado Mesa to chip within four of RU at the 56-second mark. However, a Jacob jumper brought the Rangers back to a six-point, 52-46 advantage with 3 seconds to play in the third. This was the quarter's final basket.
 
CMU senior guard Kylyn Rigsby shrank the Regis lead back to four, 52-48, at the 6:53 mark of the fourth.
 
This preceded Colorado Mesa's 6-0 run in which Rigsby made a jumper to commence it with 6:10 left in regulation, and senior guard Sophie Anderson drilled a jumper at the 3:47 mark to end the run. Anderson's jumper cut RU's lead down to a point, 55-54.
 
The Rangers regained their composure in the closing minutes with a five-point stretch, starting on Burrell's free throw with 3:16 remaining in the contest and ceasing after Smith's aforementioned jumper at the 1:55 clock reading of the final quarter. Smith's jumper yielded Regis a 60-54 lead.
 
Game Notes: Jacob scored a share of the game-high 20 points and had eight rebounds, three assists, a share of the game-high one block, and a share of the game-high two steals. Burrell scored 17 points, grabbed four rebounds, and had three assists. Smith registered 13 points, seven rebounds, three assists, and one steal. Fry recorded six points, a game-high 10 defensive rebounds, a game-high six assists, and a share of the game-high one block. She also gave RU the lead, 5-2, with 8:43 to go in the first, which it did not lose from that point forward.
 
The Rangers dominated CMU in all three shooting categories. Regis sank 23 of 54 (42.6 percent) from the paint, seven of 17 (41.2 percent) from the arc, and 12 of 14 (85.7 percent) at the free-throw line. In contrast, RU held the Mavericks to a 24-for-64 (37.5 percent) effort from the field, a 4-for-20 (20 percent) performance from 3-point range, and a 7-for-13 (53.8 percent) result at the charity stripe.
 
Up Next for the Rangers: The Rangers improve to a 6-8 record overall and a 6-7 record in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) play. Regis heads deeper into its homestand when it hosts Westminster College (Utah) (10-3, 10-3 RMAC) at Regis Field House on Saturday at 5 p.m.