LAKEWOOD, Colo.  After a third-quarter rally that vaulted visiting Western Colorado into the lead, host Colorado Christian University staged its own rally in the final quarter to steal a 67-57 home win in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference opener for both teams Thursday night.

JUST THE FACTS
Final score: Colorado Christian def. Western, 67-57
Records: Western 2-3 overall (0-1 RMAC), CCU 2-5 (1-0)
Location: CCU Event Center, Lakewood, Colo.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Trailing by nine at the halftime break (33-24) and surrendering the opening six points of the third quarter to the Cougars, Western went on a tear with a 17-0 run to take a 41-39 lead late in the third.
• The rally included a pair of 3-pointers from Jayda Maves, the second of which from the left wing gave the Mountaineers their first lead since a 10-9 advantage late in the first quarter.
• CCU would tie the score at 41-41, but Ivey Schmidt free throws in the final seconds of the frame and a close-in jumper followed by a trey from Alyssa Eckroth to start the fourth quarter lifted Western in front, 48-41.
• A 10-0 Cougar run erased that gap, though, and the home team found the range from behind the arc on three consecutive shots to widen the gap to nine, 60-51, from which Western was never able to recover.

COURT NOTES

• Schmidt tied for game-high honors with 18 points, and Maves was next with 16, including shooting 4 for 7 from long range.
• Eckroth also climbed into double digits with 10 on the night.
• In that deciding fourth quarter, the Cougars hit 7 of 10 from the floor (70%) while Western shot 36% (4 of 11). Four of CCU's buckets in the final frame were 3-pointers.
• Turnovers also played a role as the Mountaineers gave up possession 18 times, from which the Cougars would score 22 points off the turnovers.

UP NEXT
The Mountaineers will have a travel day to recover before facing host Colorado State Pueblo in a Saturday afternoon RMAC game.