The Colorado State University-Pueblo women’s basketball team (15-4) dominated Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference foe, Western New Mexico University (3-16), 78-44, on Saturday, Feb. 2, to earn its eighth consecutive 15-win season.
The players of the game were Laurel Kearsley, post, who finished with a double-double, with 14 points and 10 rebounds and Caiti Forrester, forward, who scored 11 points and grabbed eight rebounds. The entire team played tough defense and the stamina of the Thunderwolves didn’t fade.
“You know, we have great practices during the week and it really shows in our performance,” Forrester said. “We’re always working on our defense and being able to come out and dominate like we did tonight is why we do that.”
Although Saturday‘s win gave the Thunderwolves another 15-win season, coach Kip Drown is already looking ahead to next week.
“The 15 wins don’t mean anything, we have a long way to go and we need to get a second seed,” Drown said. “15 wins don’t get you that, over 20 wins do, so we have a lot of basketball left to play.”
The team played hard on Saturday night, but next week is where the team is focusing.
“Next week is huge for us,” Forrester said. “But these two wins this weekend is a huge confidence booster going into next week.”
Rebounds were a key factor in this game as CSU-Pueblo dominated the game with 51 total rebounds. Kearsley, Forrester and Taylor Fox, wing, who had 11 rebounds in the game, combined for 29 rebounds on the night.
The Thunderwolves came into this game with very little pressure, but it was close, for five minutes. Once the Thunderwolves started to gain momentum, the coach for WNMU started to feel the heat. This game against WNMU was decided early on.
When the first half came to an end, CSU-Pueblo was up by 22 points. Erica Hicks, wing, played a strong first half as she had eight points, six of which came from two 3-pointers. Hicks finished the game with 11 points and three rebounds.
When the second half started, the Thunderwolf starters were on the bench and the bench players managed to keep the lead for most of the second half. The Thunderwolves were still up by 34 points when the starters came back in to clean up for the final minutes.
The coach for WNMU started to yell at his team, while Drown cheered and kept his composure. Once the energy started to dwindle for WNMU, CSU-Pueblo was up by 42 points.
One of the memorable moments during the game against WNMU came from the halftime show. Rocky, the mascot for the Denver Nuggets paid a visit to the Massari Arena and entertained the crowd. Rocky’s roles in the halftime show ranged from dancing with cheerleaders, to taking pictures with fans.
Next week will be another RMAC game for the CSU-Pueblo women’s basketball team and will be hosting UC-Colorado Springs, at the Massari Arena.
The game, on Saturday, Feb. 9, will begin at 5:30 p.m.