GUNNISON, Colo. --- The 11th-ranked Western Colorado women's basketball team travels to take on CSU Pueblo 5 p.m. Saturday at Massari Arena.

The Mountaineers' scheduled game set for Friday at Adams State has been postponed due to COVID-19 protocol.

MOUNTAINEERS HEADING INTO THIS WEEK | SEASON STATS
Western picked up a key road victory last Saturday as the Mountaineers defeated Black Hills State 70-61 - outscoring the Yellow Jackets 10-1 in overtime. Emmery Wagstaff paced the Mountaineers with 17 points (going 4-for-6 from 3-point range) while adding five rebounds. Taytem Coleman had 12 points and three steals while Mikaela Parker had 11 points and five rebounds.

The Mountaineers are third in the RMAC in scoring and points allowed - averaging 72.3 points per game while allowing 61.5 per contest. Western leads the RMAC - by a somewhat wide margin - in 3-point percentage at 41.2 percent (11th in the NCAA) with South Dakota Mines the next closest at 37.4 percent. The Mountaineers are also third in the RMAC in 3-pointers made per game (7.9) while ranking second in field goal percentage (44.8 percent).

Western has three players averaging double figures in scoring in Hannah Cooper (15.9 - sixth in the RMAC), Wagstaff (14.4) and Samantha Coleman (13.9) with Mikaela Parker not far off at 9.1 points per game. The Mountaineers have two players in the top 25 in the nation in 3-point percentage in Wagstaff (52.3 percent - 18th in NCAA, second in RMAC) and Samantha Coleman (47.5 percent - 25th in NCAA, third in RMAC). Cooper at 4.9 assists per game ranks 29th in the nation and fifth in the conference.

CSU PUEBLO HEADING INTO THIS WEEK | SEASON STATS
The ThunderWolves returned to action for the first time in nearly a month last week as they defeated UCCS 62-50 last Saturday thanks to a near triple-double from JaNaiya Davis (16 points, 10 assists, nine rebounds, four steals and two blocks) before falling on the road to MSU Denver 72-54 on Tuesday - getting 16 points and nine rebounds from Sydni Williams.

CSU Pueblo - tied for the fewest games played in the RMAC - is averaging 59.0 points per game (10th in the RMAC) while allowing 65.8 (seventh in the conference). The ThunderWolves have had a strong turnover margin in their five games at plus-4.40 while they lead the conference in blocked shots per game (4.6).

Davis and Williams have paced the scoring attack for CSU Pueblo with Davis averaging 14.2 points and Williams at 14.0 points per game. Davis is also averaging 6.5 rebounds, 5.2 assists, 2.6 steals and 1.0 blocks in an RMAC-leading 38.4 minutes per game (sixth in the nation) while Williams is at a team-best 7.2 rebounds per game (fifth in the RMAC). Aubriana Noti is third on the team in scoring at 8.8 points per contest with no other player averaging more than 4.6 points per game.

LAST SEASON VERSUS CSU PUEBLO
The Mountaineers outscored CSU Pueblo 21-8 in the fourth quarter to pull away for a 61-50 victory at Paul Wright Gym on Jan. 10, 2020. Hannah Cooper had 17 points, seven rebounds, five steals and three assists for the Mountaineers while CSU Pueblo was led by Sydni Williams' 16 points, nine rebounds, three blocks and two steals.

The Mountaineers have won two in a row against CSU Pueblo - stopping a stretch where Western lost 16 of 17 contests against the ThunderWolves. Western's win at CSU-Pueblo in 2019 marked the Mountaineers' first win in Pueblo since 2001 - breaking a 15-game losing streak on the road against the ThunderWolves.

WESTERN COLORADO NOTES

- MOUNTAINEERS NATIONALLY RANKED FOR THE FIRST TIME IN PROGRAM HISTORY, NO. 2 IN REGIONAL RANKINGS (RELEASE)
Western hit a first on Jan. 12 as the Mountaineers were ranked for the first time in program history when they were voted No. 13 in the D2SIDA Women's Basketball Division II Media Poll. In the D2SIDA South Central Region rankings, the Mountaineers are No. 2 - only behind Lubbock Christian.

The Mountaineers have moved up to No. 11 since then and still sit at No. 2 in the regional rankings behind Lubbock Christian.

- S. COLEMAN SITS IN SECOND ON MOUNTAINEER ALL-TIME 3-POINT LIST, APPROACHING SCORING TOP 10
Senior Samantha Coleman with her 173 career 3-pointers sits nine behind the all-time record of 181 set by Brooke Pendergraft (2008-12).  Coleman also has a chance to become the ninth player in Western history to reach 1,000 career points as she has 940 points. She will reach the top 10 in all-time Western scoring with 19 more points - moving her past Taryn Brennan's 958 points.

- WESTERN SETS NEW MARK FOR BEST START IN PROGRAM HISTORY
In defeating South Dakota Mines 79-72 on Jan. 4 , the Mountaineers went to 5-0 and set a new mark for the best undefeated start in program history - previously set by the 1980-81 team (4-0). While a Jan. 5 loss to the Hardrockers broke that streak, the Mountaineers at 7-1 will look to break that same 1980-81 team for the best one-loss start to a season in program history at 9-1.

- ELEVATED SUCCESS FOR MOUNTAINEERS AT HIGHEST COLLEGIATE GYM IN THE WORLD SINCE 2019-20
The Mountaineers are 15-2 at Paul Wright Gym - the highest collegiate gym in the world at 7,723 feet - since the start of the 2019-20 season.

- WESTLING MOVING UP MOUNTAINEER WINS LISTS, APPROACHING 100 CAREER WINS AS A HEAD COACH
Lora Westling even at just her fifth season at the helm of the Mountaineers has already cemented herself as one of the winningest coaches in program history. Her 59 career victories is fourth in program history, behind James Hahn (113 - 1982-92), Phile Swille (69 - 1978-82) and Latricia Trammell (65 - 2007-12). Her 48 RMAC wins is tied for second in program history - tied with Trammell and only behind Hahn (62).

Westling has led the Mountaineers to back-to-back winning seasons - the first time the program has accomplished that since James Hahn did it in 1985-86 and 1986-87.

As a head coach overall, Westling is at 97 wins - three away from the century mark.

WESTLING'S HEAD COACHING CAREER

Season	School	Record	Conf.
2013-14	Illinois College	12-11	10-8
2014-15	Illinois College	14-10	11-7
2015-16	Illinois College	12-11	9-9
2016-17	Western Colorado	7-19	6-16
2017-18	Western Colorado	9-19	6-16
2018-19	Western Colorado	16-11	12-10
2019-20	Western Colorado	20-7	18-4
2020-21	Western Colorado	7-1	6-1
OVERALL		97-89	78-71

- WESTLING NAMED WHOOPDIRT.COM COACH OF THE WEEK (DEC. 14, 2020) - (RELEASE)
Western Colorado women's basketball coach Lora Westling was honored for her team's performance during the week of Dec. 6-13 by being named the WHoopDirt.com Coach of the Week.

The week for the Mountaineers included an 84-69 win at home against Fort Lewis on Tuesday before defeating MSU Denver 67-51 on Saturday on the road thanks to outscoring the Roadrunners 29-9 in the fourth quarter. With the honor, Westling is now eligible for the WHoopDirt.com National Coach of the Year Award.

- COOPER NAMED RMAC OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK (DEC. 9, 2020) - (RELEASE)
Western Colorado's Hannah Cooper was named the RMAC Women's Basketball Offensive Player of the Week for the week of Dec. 9, 2020, after averaging 25.5 points, 7.5 rebounds and 5.5 assists in a pair of wins for the Mountaineers. This includes a career-high 34 points to go along with 10 rebounds, five assists, two blocks and a steal to help the Mountaineers defeat Black Hills State on Friday. She went 9-for-15 from the field and 15-for-16 from the free throw line. The 34 points is tied for the fourth-most in Western history and the most points a Mountaineer has scored in a game in 23 years while her 15 made free throws tied a school record.

This is Cooper's first career RMAC Player of the Week honor and Western's first since Samantha Coleman earned RMAC Offensive Player of the Week on Dec. 2, 2019.

- THAT'S THE WAY TO START THE SEASON ... RECORD NIGHT FOR COOPER
It was quite the start to the 2020-21 season for Hannah Cooper as the sophomore from El Paso, Texas, scored 34 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and dished out five assists in the Mountaineers' win over Black Hills State on Dec. 4 in Paul Wright Gym. The 34 points is tied for the fourth most in Western history - behind Shannon Smart (41 versus Chadron State and 36 against Adams State - both during the 1992-93 season) and Laurie Nickolaus (40 against New Mexico Highlands in 1985-86). It's the most points a Mountaineers has scored in a game since Jen Knight scored 34 against NMHU in 1996-97. Cooper tied the school record for most free throws made in a game as well, going 15-for-16 from the line.

- DALTON SIXTH ON WESTERN ALL-TIME BLOCKS LIST
Senior Katie Dalton now sits in sixth place on the Western all-time blocks list with 68. Sitting in fifth place is Paula Stumbaugh (1980-84) with 78. Dalton can move up several spots on the list this season, but likely won't reach the school and RMAC record of 319 set by Kris Ellerby (1984-88).

- COOPER BECOMES FIRST WESTERN RMAC FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR IN WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Sophomore Hannah Cooper became the first Western Colorado women's basketball player in program history to earn RMAC Freshman of the Year since the conference started handing out the award in the sport in 1996-97. Cooper led the Mountaineers in assists (3.2) and steals (1.4), was second in scoring (9.7) and third in rebounding (4.3).

- MOUNTAINEERS PICKED TO FINISH SECOND IN RMAC (FULL STORY)
The Western Colorado women's basketball team was selected second in the RMAC Preseason Women's Basketball Coaches Poll. The Mountaineers - who picked up three first-place votes - finished behind defending RMAC champion Colorado Mesa in the preseason poll - the Mavericks getting eight first-place votes and 189 points total - while Western finished two points ahead of Westminster, which picked up four first-place votes. Westminster was followed by Colorado School of Mines, Black Hills State and then South Dakota Mines - the same exact order of finish the top six teams finished in the RMAC in 2019-20.

- MOUNTAINEERS IN SEASON OPENERS
The Mountaineers are now 14-29 all-time in season opener after their win over Black Hills State on Dec. 4 at home - their first time starting the season at home since 2006-07 when the Mountaineers beat Chadron State, 80-54. The Mountaineers are 7-5 all-time when starting the season at Paul Wright Gym.