GUNNISON, Colo.  Western Colorado used a dynamic third quarter to run away from visiting St. Edwards (Texas) University Monday night in Paul Wright Gym, hitting seven 3-pointers in the period to break free from a three-point halftime lead in an eventual 60-44 non-conference win.

JUST THE FACTS
Final score: Western def. St. Edwards, 60-44
Records: Western 4-2, St. Edwards 3-6
Location: Paul Wright Gym, Gunnison, Colo.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The teams played back and forth with the lead in the opening quarter with five lead changes, and St. Edwards grabbed a 16-15 lead in the first minute of the second quarter.
• Jayda Maves put in a layup on Western's next possession, though, for what would turn out to be the last lead change of the game, pushing the Mountaineers to a 17-16 advantage that would become a 25-22 halftime lead.
• Western was just 1-for-7 from behind the arc in the first half, but Oh! how things changed in the third quarter.
• SEU scored the opening basket to pull within one, but then the rain started coming down. Jayde Tschritter buried what would the first of six consecutive 3-pointers by the Mountaineers.
• She added another the next time down the court, then Maves sandwiched two treys around Natalie Jojola's before Ivey Schmidt joined the action with the sixth 3-pointer in the quarter.
• The string was interrupted only by a jumper from Schmidt, who, for good measure, added one more trey to the frame that saw Western hit 7-of-9 from long range to extend its lead over the Hilltoppers to 48-36.
• The Mountaineers tacked on a 12-8 scoring advantage in the fourth to finish off the 16-point victory.

COURT NOTES

• The Mountaineers dropped in eight of their nine 3-pointers during second-half action. In all, Tschritter collected a trio of treys, Maves and Schmidt each added two, Jojola had one, and center Rachel Cockman added one in the final two minutes of the game.
• Cockman did the majority of her work from in close, scoring a game-high 15 points and bringing down 10 rebounds to register her second double-double in a row.
• Schmidt tied Cockman for scoring honors with 15 points and came away with 6 rebounds, all off the defensive rim.
• The Mountaineers commanded the boards on the night, forging a 41-28 advantage in rebounding. With 33 defensive rebounds, Western was able to limit SEU to just 2 second-chance points.
• While finishing the night hitting 40 percent from the floor, the Mountaineer defense hounded the Hilltoppers all game, as they shot just 29% from the field, including only 2-of-15 from 3-point range.

THEY SAID IT

 
UP NEXT
Western enters into Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference action with its next games following the holiday break. Colorado Christian University comes to Paul Wright on December 5 followed by Colorado State University Pueblo on Dec. 7.