The Pack lost their second straight game Saturday night in Durango, Colo., 55-71, to the number eighth ranked team in the nation, Fort Lewis College.
The Pack were led in scoring by Jonnie Draper who had 14 points, and Michelle Ambuul who had 10, but couldn’t muster enough offense to stay with the sharp-shooting Skyhawks.
The Skyhawks, who have clinched the RMAC season title, were led to victory by four of their players who had double digits in scoring. Allison Rosell and Katie Mackey each had double-doubles. Rosell had 16 points and 13 rebounds while Mackey had 12 points and 11 boards, respectively.
The last time the Pack had two players have double-doubles in the same game was back on Feb. 24, 2005 when Lauren Westerman and Stacey Nutt did it against Adams State.
Lauren Redfern and Erin Kerr were the other two Skyhawks with double digit points with 14 and 13, respectively.
The Skyhawks average a nation’s best field goal percentage of just over 52 percent from the field which has helped them win their 21st game in a row, has led them to a record of 24-1, and 17-0 in the RMAC. On Saturday though, they only shot 40 percent.
A big reason why the Skyhawks ran away with the game, aside from their four players in double digits, was the contribution they got from their bench. Their bench outscored the CSU-Pueblo reserves by a 10 point margin, 24-14. That’s not uncommon for the squad from Durango though; they’re leading scorer, Rosell, has not started a game all year.
The Pack have lost two in a row and need to rebound if they want to get the coveted number two spot in the West Division of the RMAC. In order to regain the spot over Mesa State, who holds the tie-breaker over the Pack, they’d have to make up two games with only two conference games to play.
Mesa State will square off against Fort Lewis, then Western State, while the ladies of CSU-Pueblo will take on the two bottom dwellers of the West Division in New Mexico Highlands and Western New Mexico. If everything plays the way the records indicate it should, then the big game will be when Mesa State plays host to Western State.
The Pack will try to get back on their feet in a non-conference match-up on the road against Johnson & Wales on Feb. 19.
After they finish off the road trip, the Pack will return home to christen the newly renovated Massari Arena on Feb. 22 against New Mexico Highlands in a must-win game for the Pack.
