With two victories over its toughest opponents in a four-day span, the Regis women’s basketball team appeared to be headed for an undefeated Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference season.
But the Rangers’ quest to run the table was stopped on a cold Nebraska night by Nebraska- Kearney. Regis lost 83-66 on Friday, dropping to 14-1 in the RMAC and 22-4 overall. The most recent RMAC team to go undefeated was Kearney in 1995-96, when the conference was comprised of nine teams.
Riding 6-for-9 3-point shooting by junior guard Diana Lopez, the Rangers trailed the 58 percent field goal-shooting Lopers 41-34 at halftime. Effective man-to-man defense held Lopez scoreless for a 15-minute span of the second half. She did not get to the free-throw line and was limited to a pair of 3s for a team-high 24 points. The eight 3-pointers set a single-game Regis record and pushed her season total to 95, breaking Val Sewald’s mark of 88 set in 1989-90.
While enduring the end of its 10-game win streak, Regis committed 28 turnovers to Kearney’s 14. Kearney shot 32 free throws to Regis’ eight.
The Rangers’ loss came on the heels of their 69-63 win at Fort Hays State and a 100-92 triumph over crosstown rival Metro State in what is believed to be the highest-scoring combined total in Division II this season. Each side made a dozen 3-pointers and the Rangers shot 63.3 percent from the field, including 70.6 percent in the second half. Metro State shot 47 percent from the field and 90 percent (18-for-20) on free throws.
Lopez was limited to 30 minutes because of foul trouble but still scored 28 points, surpassing the single-season Regis scoring record of 521 that she set last season. Her twin, Denise, scored a season-high 26 points. Playing all 40 minutes, Denise also contributed nine steals and grabbed nine rebounds. Lindsay Viall added 17 points, and Regis had 26 assists on 38 field goals.
Fueled by five 3-pointers, Paige Powers scored a career- high 31 for Metro State. Stacey Cox added 19, including four 3s.
Metro’s Jessica von Tillow, a freshman point guard from Santa Rosa, Calif., suffered a concussion and was limited to 21 minutes. She is expected to be sidelined two to three weeks.
Footnotes
The Fort Lewis women lead a tight RMAC West Division race under first-year coach Mark Kellogg. The Skyhawks started the season 1-7 but have won seven straight after Saturday’s 74-37 victory over Western State. Katie Bodaness, a freshman guard from Cherry Creek High School, scored 12 points and added a game-high seven assists in Fort Lewis’ 78-69 win Friday over Mesa State. … Colorado- Colorado Springs, 11-12 overall and 8-7 in the RMAC under first-year coach Jessika Stratton, has posted its most overall and RMAC victories since 2002, when coach Dave Murphy wrapped up a 19-9 season and was hired by Metro State. … UCCS interim men’s coach Doug Schakel posted his first victory with the Mountain Lions, 69-63 over New Mexico Highlands. … Davey Iverson of the Colorado School of Mines was named to the first-team academic all-District 7 team by the College Sports Information Directors of America. Iverson’s 4.0 grade-point average is in engineering physics. Steve Raquet of Colorado State-Pueblo (3.81, business management) and Kearney’s Chad Burger, a Doherty High School graduate with a 3.83 mark in sports administration, were named to the second team. Berthoud’s Tim Bieri of Fort Lewis and UCCS’ Jennine Sauter, from Smoky Hill, were among third-team selections.
