DENVER, Colo. – Fresh off their second consecutive Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference regular season title, the Regis University women's basketball team held fast in their matchup against the Colorado Christian University Cougars and punched their ticket to the next round of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference tournament.

The Rangers (24-5 overall) took the win, 61-58, in a game that saw both offenses shoot at almost the same rate. Regis shot 35.4% (23-for-65) on the night, while the Cougars (17-12 overall) finished the game shooting 33.8% (22-for-65) from the floor.

Senior guard Erin Fry showed fans why she was named the 2023 RMAC Tournament MVP with a 23 point performance while fifth-year Sam Deem recorded her fifth double-double of the season with 13 points and 10 rebounds.

"How can you not be proud of the fight and us closing out a tough game against a really good team?" said Regis women's basketball head coach, Molly Marrin. "I just thought our composure down the stretch really showed itself and that was how we pulled out the huge win."

HOW IT HAPPENED

Both teams went on their own scoring runs to force the lead to change a total of five times throughout the night, but the Rangers weathered the Cougars' offensive storm and came out on top.

The back-and-forth game came down to the final 10 minutes of the night as the Rangers opened the quarter leading by as many as six, but the Cougars managed to whittle that lead down to only a single point at the 2:16 mark.

Fry continued to pour in points Tuesday as she hit two back-to-back layups to put their lead back out to five while CCU tried to answer with a layup and made free throw of their own, but would fall short at the final buzzer.

The McKinney-native finished the night with 23 points, shooting 42.8% from the floor and 2-for-4 (50%) from three. Alongside her was Deem with 13 points and junior guard Athena Saragoza with 12. 

"The toughness piece of her, toughness is a mentality and Fru embodies that better than anybody there is with her calmness and her composure. With the load she has to carry when people double team her and deny her all while she's running our offense," Marrin said. "When she gets a feel for what's open for offensively, she can read like nobody I've ever coached. She just started to see what was open as the game went on and just continued to get better."

Deem emerged as Regis' top post player on the night with her fifth double-double of the season–ninth in her career–with 13 points and 10 rebounds.

"I just think her consistency all year for us has been huge. Just being able to rely on her with some of those shots, mid-range shots, dump downs, any of those things," said Marrin. "Once she can get her hand on a defensive rebound, she comes up with it. She's just been super great and consistent for us all year."

GAME NOTES

• With their six turnovers on the night, the Rangers are now ranked second in the nation in turnovers per game (11.0)
• Josey Ryan continued her reign as Regis' top basketball thief with four steals
• Regis' six turnovers is the tied for third-best on the season

UP NEXT

With the win, the Rangers advance to the RMAC Semifinal game on Friday night. With Colorado Mesa University losing to Colorado State University Pueblo, Regis remains as the highest seed in the tournament and will host the tournament for the second year in a row.

Official start times for Friday's games will be announced by the RMAC on Wednesday.