DENVER, Colo. – The Cowgirls lost the rebounding battle 40-27 and was outscored 30-7 in bench points as New Mexico Highlands (4-8, 3-5 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) fell at Regis (8-4, 4-3 RMAC) 78-48 Saturday afternoon (Jan. 3) in Denver, Colorado.
The Cowgirls won the opening tip and went right to the basket as senior
Jenny Johnson, who led the team with 18 points, made a layup. Redshirt freshman
Michelle Tapia made a layup to put the Cowgirls up 5-4 with 17:34 remaining in the first half, but a 17-4 run put the home team in the lead for good. Jessica Ramos – who came off the bench for 14 points for the Rangers – started the spurt with back-to-back triples. Senior
Anngelina Sanchez looked to end the run with a jumper, but a triple by Erica Von Stein pushed the lead to 13-7.
The Rangers made 11-24 (45.8 percent) from beyond the arc compared to a 4-21 (19 percent) mark for Highlands.
Junior
Brittany Brown hit a jumper to cut the deficit to four, but a pair of threes by Bay'lee Purdee around a jumper by Karlyn Johnson put Regis up 21-9 with 13:39 remaining in the first half. Von Stein assisted on all three shots to end the run and finished the game with nine assists. Purdee scored a game-best 20 points.
The Cowgirls trailed by as much as 18 in the first half before 12-3 run right before break cut the deficit in half. Junior
Miranda Martinez started the run with a three. Regis split from the line before both teams traded layups. Johnson then scored eight on her own with two layups around a fastbreak triple.
However, Regis scored on a jumper right before half to push the advantage to double-digits for good.
The Cowgirls return to action next weekend (Jan. 9) at Fort Lewis. Game time is set for 5:30 p.m.
