Box Score COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The Cowgirls fell behind 26-8 and closed within seven, but New Mexico Highlands (4-4, 1-4 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) could not complete the comeback in a 77-55 defeat to UC-Colorado Springs (3-6, 2-3 RMAC) Friday night (Dec. 20) in Colorado Springs, Colo.
Down 26-8 in the first half, the Cowgirls went on a 15-6 run to cut the deficit in half. Junior
Jenny Johnson started the spurt with a three-pointer. Sophomore
Leisha Crawford then grabbed a steal and hit Johnson for an old-fashioned three. The Mountain Lions' Sam Patterson ended the visitors' six unanswered points, but Junior
Katie Gannon responded with another triple to bring the game back to within 11. Gannon came off the bench to lead Highlands with 12 points.
Trailing 32-19 with 4:37 left, junior
Trish Simpson brought the game back to single digits. In a period of six seconds, Simpson hit a jumper, grabbed a steal and raced to the hoop for the fastbreak lay-up. Highlands trailed 32-23 with 3:52 until halftime. A split from the line for the Mountain Lions was answered by freshman
Giulia Simioni's three. The Cowgirls never climbed closer than seven the rest of the way.
UC-Colorado Springs raced out to a lead thanks to 64 percent shooting (16-25) in the first half. The Mountain Lions finished with a 59.1 percent shooting mark (26-44) for the game. Conversely, Highlands only managed 27.3 percent shooting (18-66) for the game.
Abby Kirchoff paced the home team with 18 points. Jeri Pikul added 14.
The Cowgirls return to action tomorrow when it they take on Colorado State-Pueblo. Tip-off is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.
