DENVER, Colo. – Playing their first home game of the 2023-2024 season, the Regis University women's basketball team took on the Point Loma Nazarene University Sea Lions on Saturday, coming away with the 89-65 win.
Five different Regis (3-0 overall) players finished in double-digit points while senior guard Madison Diercks caused trouble at the glass for the Sea Lions (1-3 overall), grabbing a total of 14 rebounds.
"We battled against a very good team. I'm proud of the rebounding efforts and us crashing the boards, especially Madison," said Regis women's basketball head coach, Molly Marrin. "She's really leading us in that with 14 rebounds as a guard. Her relentlessness on the boards really gives us those extra opportunities offensively and gives us more confidence to get shots up. I'm really proud of that."
How It Happened: Down 5-0 early in the first quarter, Regis quickly put together an explosive offensive package that scored a total of 27 points at the end of the first, led by redshirt sophomore Pearle Green who went a perfect 3-for-3 from beyond the arc.
After a second quarter that saw the Rangers shoot 7-for-15 (46.7%) from the paint and 28.6% (2-for-7), Regis had a healthy 13 point lead going into halftime thanks to six points from both Diercks and graduate student guard Josey Ryan.
Up 46-33 in the third, junior Athena Saragoza paced all Rangers and scored 13 of Regis' 27 points in the quarter to continue to balance a powerful Regis offense.
Green led all Rangers in the fourth with six points and helped Regis to a statement 89-65 win over the Sea Lions.
At the end of the 40 minutes, Saragoza, Fry, Ryan, graduate student forward Sam Deem, and Green all finished in double-digits.
"I think it really speaks to the balance of our team, the balance and talent of our players individually. They're willing to make that extra pass," Marrin said. "When you have players that are as talented as we have and the skills we have, and they're willing to make that extra pass, it's contagious and makes everyone play better. It speaks to our depth and how it can be anyone's moment, it's not about one person, it's about the team."
The starting five combined for 62 points, but the Rangers' bench contributed 27 of those 89 points, including the first career points for freshman forward Fiona Snashall.
"27 points is not a small contribution by any means," said Marrin. "Those bench points really speaks to our depth, we can have anybody play for us and be a contributor, that's really exciting. We got to see Fiona grow, her growth in the last couple of weeks has been tremendous. She did a great job."
Game Notes:
- Athena Saragoza led all Rangers in points with 18
- Madison Diercks finished with a total of 14 rebounds, 10 of which were defensive boards
- Regis outrebounded the Sea Lions, 40-31
- The Rangers only committed 8 turnovers to Point Loma's 14
Up Next: The Rangers head south to take on the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs in a non-conference matchup. Tipoff is set for 5 PM on Monday.
"They played Point Loma on Thursday and they're going to play more man-to-man and less zone defense, on paper at least. They're a talented team as well, and with a non-conference RMAC opponent, our girls will be fired up," Marrin said.
