DENVER, Colo. – The Regis University women's basketball team returned home and took on the South Dakota School of Mines Hardrockers on Friday, leading wire-to-wire in a convincing 85-64 win.
The Rangers (17-6 overall, 14-3 RMAC) went off for its second-highest shooting performance of the season (.542) and combined for 36 rebounds to keep the Hardrockers (3-20 overall, 3-14 RMAC) to one of their lowest shooting performances of the season (.364).
"We had 10 different players score, and I was proud of how our starters set the tone," said Regis women's basketball head coach,
Molly Marrin. "I was even more proud of how the bench raised our level and continued to push the team."
How It Happened: It was a workman's performance as the Rangers never once surrendered the lead throughout the 40 minutes and led by as many as 24 at the 1:21 mark of the fourth. Ten different Rangers would contribute in scoring, with four of those 10 finishing in double-figures.
The Rangers led by seven at the end of the first half and demolished the third quarter with a 20-9 run that was bookended by a fastbreak layup from freshman
Kyla Frenchers that forced the Hardrockers to take a timeout and regroup with the score at 58-43 at the 2:16 mark.
Going into the fourth, Regis opened with six stops in a row to keep their momentum going and put the win that much further out of reach for South Dakota School of Mines.
"We talked about getting stops," said Marrin. "That's what gives us momentum and ultimately the chance to extend the lead."
Regis kept on and added another almost thirty points over the last 12 minutes to close out at the game at 85-64.
The Rangers' performance featured a staggering 27 points off fast breaks that kept the pace of the game high.
"We like to push in transition,s but our offensive transitions shined (Friday) because we were getting stops and some steals in the open court to prevent the Hardrockers from scoring," said Marrin.
Sophomore
Athena Saragoza and senior
Sam Deem led the Rangers in scoring with 16 points a piece while
Josey Ryan finished with 14.
Junior
Madison Diercks had a standout performance off the bench for the Rangers as the guard finished with 10 points, five rebounds, and a steal while going 3-for-5 (.600) from the field.
"Madison [Diercks] did what she does best and played great," said Marrin. "She got a steal, rebounds and used her athleticism to get to the basketball. I'm really happy for her because her performance helped our guard group a lot."
Game Notes:
- Freshman Jessica Bollwahn scored her first collegiate points on Friday, converting a three-point play at the 2:27 mark of the fourth quarter
- Regis outscored the Hardrockers 28-9 in points off turnovers
- The Rangers went 7-for-17 from three (.412) its third-highest performance of the season.
Up Next: The Rangers continued the home stand with a pivotal game against Black Hills State University on Saturday at 3:00 P.M. With a win, the Rangers could moved into a tie for first place in the RMAC standings with Colorado School of Mines. Regis owns the tiebreaker over the Orediggers courtesy of a 76-64 win over the Orediggers on Jan. 13.
