COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — The Southwestern Pirates women's basketball team executed down the stretch of a fourth quarter that had four lead changes, defeating the Colorado College Tigers for the first win of the season.
Noel Pratts led three Pirates in double figures with 19 points on efficient 9-for-15 shooting, collecting three rebounds and dishing out two assists, and Reece Sandercock anchored the middle with 11 points, 10 rebounds, two blocks, and two assists.
Southwestern opened the game with a stifling defensive performance, showing discipline in rotations and getting rim protection from Sandercock, holding Colorado College to just 3-for-19 shooting (15.8 percent) with no free-throw attempts to take a 12-6 lead at the end of the first quarter.
McKenzee Gertz steadied Colorado College in the second quarter, scoring seven of her 11 points. Southwestern struggled, scoring just eight points in the quarter to trail 23-20 at the half.
Emma Lewis was a catalyst to the Pirates' offense off the bench in the third quarter, hitting a pair of 3-pointers on deft passes from Noel Pratts and Erin Toro and draining another mid-range jumper to score eight points in the quarter.
Sandercock made several clutch plays in the fourth quarter, scoring seven points, grabbing four rebounds, and finding Taylor Carney for two critical baskets in the game's final two minutes. Clinging to a one-point lead, Sandercock tracked down a loose rebound off a missed Fulenwider 3-pointer and quickly found Carney for a layup. Sandercock connected with Carney again for a short jumper and a 59-54 lead on the next offensive possessions. It was the second consecutive double-double for Sandercock.
Lauren Fulenwider struggled to finder her range after breaking the Pirates' single-game made 3-pointers record last week but was able to get to the free-throw line, nailing 7-for-8, including all six attempts in the fourth quarter to seal the game. She finished with 14 points, three rebounds, and two assists. Carney led the Pirates' reserves with nine points, hitting all four of her shot attempts.
Tedy Reed led the Tigers with 13 points on eight shots. Gertz was the only other Tiger in double figures, scoring 11 points on 13 shot attempts.
Southwestern's struggles on the glass continued, allowing 17 offensive rebounds, but the Pirate defense made up for it by holding the Tigers to 21-for-68 shooting (30.9 percent) and hitting 43.1 percent of their own shots.
Southwestern improved to 1-4, dropping Colorado Colege to 2-1 on the season. Both teams will play each other again tomorrow at 1:00 PM.
