For the third year in a row the Colorado State University-Pueblo women’s basketball team is returning to the RMAC Shootout championship.
Behind a 19 point and 15 rebound performance from RMAC freshmen of the year Katrina Selsor, the ThunderWolves defeated Colorado Christian University, 66-63.
With the Pack playing without do-it-all guard Rachel Espinoza, who was lost for the season to injury, the team looked for a spark to shake the Cougars.
“The number one thing we talked about was executing and playing together as a group,” said coach Kip Drown.
Colorado Christian played a strong first half, leading the game for all but two minutes of the game. The Cougars found most of their offense in the paint and were paced by forward Juanise Cornell, who led all scorers in the game with 20 points.
In the second half, Colorado Christian fought off several ThunderWolf rallies and found themselves tied with the defending RMAC Shootout champions with only 2:57 remaining in the game.
That’s when the spark was found inside Selsor who took control of the game, scoring the game-tying basket along with the layup and a free throw that put the Pack ahead by three with 2:10 left.
Selsor would again show a spark by coming up with a crucial block on Cornell that all but sealed the game for the Pack.
“After losing Rachel we knew the team had to step it up,” Selsor said. “Pueblo is known for winning championships and we all have the mindset we’re going to do it again.”
The win by CSU-Pueblo puts them into the RMAC Shootout championship game against Fort Lewis, who has beaten the Pack both times they played during the regular season.
