Last season, as 1 of 4 regular season co-champions, UCCS women’s basketball team left the RMAC Championship Tournament after being beaten in the final. A year later, the Mountain Lions were back on the court playing for championship honors.
The Mountain Lions went into the final game on March 8 underdogs. Their regular season record of 12-8 made them the No. 6 seed in the tournament. They were the only team from the bottom four seeds to advance to the semifinals after they beat No. 3 Adams State. Then, they beat No. 2 Western Colorado.
And now, they’ve taken the title over No. 1 Colorado Mesa, 63-61.
“Last year it was very upsetting,” said redshirt junior guard Amyah Moore Allen said to Colorado Mesa’s assistant athletic direction of communication David Jahnke in a post-game interview. “Feels really good to come back and do what we were supposed to do last year.”
With 5 minutes left in the second quarter, Mesa had a 15-point lead.
The Mountain Lions had to cut down Mesa’s lead to win the final. In the first two quarters, the team shot 40.7% from field goal range and made just 10% of 3-pointer attempts. Moore Allen scored 15 of the 29 points the Mountain Lions scored in the first half. Going in the second half, the Mountain Lions had reduced the 15-point lead to just 8, 37-29.
With 1:36 left in the third, freshman point guard Jayla Jackson Allen tied the game with a free throw, 44-44. The third ended with 2 free throws by Moore Allen, keeping the Mountain Lions within 1 possession of the lead, 48-46.
In the fourth quarter, Colorado Mesa resorted to shooting mostly 3-pointers in attempt re-extend the lead. With 5 minutes to go, a tip-in by senior forward Amaya Snowden gave UCCS their first lead of the game, 55-54.
Each team continued to trade blows until the game was tied, 61-61, with 22 seconds left. After a UCCS timeout, sophomore guard Mya Wilson sunk a jumper for 2 points, which won the game, 63-61, after Mesa missed their last second shot.
“I thought they made some plays down the stretch, drew some fouls that allowed us to get a little separation,” head coach Misty Wilson said to Jahnke. “We really pride ourselves on defense and stops down the stretch.”
Moore Allen led the team’s scoring with 28 points. She shot 100% from the free throw line. Senior forward Maison White scored 11 points and 9 rebounds. Wilson’s 9 points round out the Mountain Lions top 3 scorers.
With this championship win, the Mountain Lions (19-11, 12-8 RMAC) automatically advanced to the NCAA Women’s Basketball Division II Tournament. UCCS was announced as the No. 7 seed on March 9. The other RMAC teams to qualify to the tournament are No. 4 seed Colorado Mesa (25-5, 18-2 RMAC) and No. 8 seed Adams State (19-11, 14-6 RMAC). The Mountain Lions beat both teams in the RMAC tournament.
The Mountain Lions will face No. 2 seed Lubbock Christian University in the first round of the tournament on March 14 at 1:30pm (MDT) in Denton, Texas. Students can watch the game on the NCAA website.
Junior point guard #0 Ellie Reynolds on Feb. 27. Photo by Lillian Davis.