SALT LAKE CITY --- The Western Colorado women's basketball team struggled for much of the final quarter to turn a close game into a double-digit loss as the Mountaineers fell to Westminster 71-53 on Saturday night at Behnken Field House.
The loss drops Western Colorado (13-4 overall, 12-4 RMAC) to third in the RMAC RPI standings by .05 points behind Westminster (11-4, 11-4) to end the season as the Mountaineers will host South Dakota Mines - seeded sixth - 6 p.m. Tuesday at Paul Wright Gym (no spectators are allowed).
As for Saturday, a circus shot layup by
Hannah Cooper with 8:43 remaining in the fourth quarter got the Mountaineers with two at 45-43. But a 13-0 run by Westminster over the next three minutes gave the Griffins a 58-43 lead and Western wouldn't get within single digits the rest of the way as the Griffins outscored the Mountaineers 28-15 in the final period.
Cooper led the Mountaineers with 22 points - going 4-for-6 from 3-point range - while adding six rebounds.
Jadyn Kanzler had 11 points and seven rebounds while
Samantha Coleman had 10 points.
The Mountaineers shot 34.5 percent from the in the game - including 5-fof-18 (27.8 percent) from 3-point range. Western also committed 13 turnovers compared to just six for Westminster.
Sarah McGinley led Westminster with 22 points while Mariah Martin had 16 points, eight rebounds and six assists.
Women's Basketball RMAC RPI Final Standings
| Colorado School of Mines |
15.71 |
1 |
| Westminster |
14.80 |
2 |
| Western Colorado |
14.75 |
3 |
| Colorado Mesa |
14.00 |
4 |
| MSU Denver |
13.67 |
5 |
| South Dakota Mines |
12.94 |
6 |
| Black Hills State |
12.85 |
7 |
| Regis |
11.56 |
8 |
| Fort Lewis |
10.53 |
|
| Adams State |
9.79 |
|
| Colorado Christian |
9.17 |
|
| CSU Pueblo |
8.94 |
|
| UCCS |
8.88 |
|
| Chadron State |
6.46 |
|
