DENVER – The Regis University women's basketball team made the most of a bittersweet Senior Night in which the Rangers gave a farewell to four seniors by rolling with confidence and teamwork to a 73-55 win against Colorado Christian at Regis Field House on Monday.

"I think it's the best way [to send off the four seniors with a win]," said Regis University Head Women's Basketball Coach Molly Marrin. "I think just seeing them [win]. Obviously, Senior Days, there's a lot involved. … Obviously, COVID makes it what it is, but we understand that so I think it was really special for them. And yeah, it comes with a lot of emotions and trying to stay focused and especially [since] we're fighting for an RMAC Tournament bid spot. We're right on the cusp of there. So, I think that could be a challenge. I thought that we had a couple dips, which is normal [and] understanding that. But, for the most part, 90 percent, [we] stayed really focused, and I thought our teamwork was great.
 
"We had 20 assists, a new season-high, [and] had 14 threes. So I think just our inside-outside game and our chemistry is growing day-by-day, and I think some teams this year are what they are. We are not so it's cool to see new things, we can put in new stuff, and see different people, especially freshmen doing some things we haven't seen them do so that's really fun and exciting for us. Hopefully, [it] will bode well as we go into the next couple games."
 
How It Happened: Commanding a 54-36 advantage with 48 seconds to play in the third quarter, Regis scored its final four points of the frame and bridged those points into the fourth as part of an eventual 6-0 run. Senior forward Tashika Burrell sank both of her shots at the charity stripe to get the run going. It was Burrell's second free throw that put the game out of reach from the Cougars to seal the win for RU, its third in a row.
 
Senior forward Whitney Jacob connected on a pair of free throws to end the third at the 3-second mark, sending the Rangers to a sizable 58-36 lead.
 
Jacob finished the run with the first points of the fourth with 9:54 remaining on a layup.
 
Though down by several possessions, Colorado Christian mounted a 7-0 run early in the fourth. A jumper by senior forward Lourdes Gonzalez sprang the run into motion at the 8:09 mark of the fourth, and a 3-pointer by senior guard McClain Walker marked the last points of the run at 6:48 reading on the clock to cut the CCU deficit to 63-44.
 
The Cougars assembled yet another 7-0 run when senior forward Brookelyn Hurlbut converted a trey with 6:05 to play in the contest. The run ended on senior guard Sam Nunez's jumper at the 4:24 mark and cut the margin to 14, 65-51.    
 
The rest of the fourth quarter consisted of a back-and-forth with Burrell contributing the game's final points on a trey with 2:00 to play in regulation, making the score, 73-55 in favor of Regis, which was the final result.
 
With the conclusion of the game, Jacob, Burrell, senior guard Emma Sterkel, and senior forward Grace O'Neill walked off the court for the last time in an RU uniform.
 
Sophomore forward Morgan L. Smith opened the Rangers' afternoon with a 2-0 lead on a layup just 24 seconds into the game.
 
Following a jumper by Nunez of Colorado Christian to tie the game at the 9:09 mark, 2-2, a layup by CCU's Hurlbut marked the game's first lead change, 4-2, with 8:20 remaining in the first quarter.
 
After the third lead change of the first, 6-5, on account of Hurlbut's jumper at the 7:48 clock reading, Smith responded with a layup to bring Regis to a 7-6 advantage at the 7:30 mark of the first, which represented the final lead change of the first.
 
Though Gonzalez's jumper knotted the contest at 10-10 with 6:04 left in the opening 10 minutes, RU rang off a 12-0 run on four treys. This run commenced on Jacob's 3-pointer at the 4:30 mark and ceased after Burrell's trey with 2:13 to go in the first. Burrell's 3-pointer took the Rangers to a 22-10 lead.
 
Hurlbut's layup at the 1:16 clock reading marked the first quarter's final points and made the score, 22-12, at the end of the first.
 
A trey by freshman guard Erin Fry extended the Regis lead to 13, 25-12, 29 seconds into the second quarter.
 
RU later drained back-to-back 3-pointers by Burrell and Jacob at the 8:12 and 7:31 marks of the second, respectively, with Jacob's basket sending the Rangers to a 31-16 advantage to end the 6-0 run.
 
Another 6-0 run came late in the second for Regis. Smith's layup started it with 2:52 to play in the second, and a jumper by freshman forward Olivia Pitrof ended it at the second quarter's 45-second mark for a 20-point lead of 41-21.
 
CCU's deficit lowered by three when Walker sank a trey with only 27 seconds remaining in the half. This trio of points was the final set of the opening 20 minutes while sending the game to a 41-24 score at halftime in favor of RU.
 
Just as she did in the first half, Smith began the second half with a layup for a Rangers' 43-24 advantage only 16 seconds into the third frame.
 
The Cougars eventually made a significant cut into Regis's lead in the form of a 7-0 run in the middle of the third. A pair of free throws by Gonzalez at the 6:23 mark of the third allowed the run to kick off, and Hurlbut's layup represented the run's final points with 5:18 left in the third. Hurlbut's layup trimmed RU's advantage to 47-33.
 
Game Notes: Jacob scored a team-high 18 points while accumulating a game-high 16 rebounds, three assists, and one steal. Burrell contributed 16 points, three rebounds, six assists, and a steal. Sterkel added six points, one rebound, and one steal. O'Neill recorded two points, six rebounds, and two assists. Smith registered 14 points, two rebounds, one assist, and one steal. Fry put up three points, three rebounds, a game-high seven assists, and a share of the game-high one block. The one steal was a share of a game-high shared by nine players, including four Rangers.
 
Regis posted a 27-for-57 (47.4 percent) result from the paint, a 13-for-24 (54.2 percent) performance from 3-point range, and a perfect 6-for-6 (100 percent) outcome from the free-throw line. In comparison, Colorado Christian concluded the game hitting 21 of 56 (37.5 percent) from the field, four of 20 (20 percent) from the arc, and nine of 12 (75 percent) at the charity stripe.
 
Up Next for the Rangers: RU moves to an 8-8 record overall and an 8-7 record in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) play. The Rangers enter into their final road trip of the 2020-21 regular season when they travel to Massari Arena to face CSU Pueblo (3-13, 3-13 RMAC) on Friday at 5:30 p.m.