After three straight conference wins by the Metro women’s basketball team, the Roadrunners were confident going into Jan. 30’s game at the Auraria Events Center against Colorado Christian University. Even the combined 31 points courtesy of twin sister guards Kristin and Brandi Valencia weren’t enough to hold off the Cougars.
Metro’s main issue was letting CCU score off offensive rebounds. They gave up 12 offensive rebounds resulting in 11 points and nine points off turnovers. Through the entire game, CCU gathered 17 second-chance points.
Metro guard Alyssa Benson drives to the basket against Colorado School of Mines Jan. 29at the Auraria Events Center. Photo by Jason Bahl • jbahl5@mscd.edu
Even though CCU held a lead for a majority of the game, it was still very close throughout.
“I thought we played extremely well despite the loss,” Head Coach Linda Lappe said. “We had many different players step up for us at different times throughout the game, and we kept fighting until the end.”
The largest lead for the Cougars came early in the second half when CCU led by a mere eight points at 51-43. For the rest of the game, Metro kept the Cougars within striking distance, not being down by more than four points.
Kristin Valencia led the game in rebounds with 10, steals with four, and had two assists to go along with her very respectable 6-13 shooting. Astoundingly, this was also Valencia’s seventh straight game with 10 or more rebounds.
Though Metro shot a solid 40 percent from the field and played a great game overall, they couldn’t keep up with CCU’s phenomenal 49 percent shooting from the floor, led by CCU guard Brittany Long who scored all 15 of her points from beyond the arc. Long went 5-of-10 from 3-point range.
On the other hand, Metro destroyed CCU at the free-throw line.
CCU shot a measly 20 percent from the charity stripe. Led at the line by Metro guard Jasmine Cervantes, Metro shot a fantastic 85 percent from the line. Cervantes went 8-10 to complement her impressive stat line including 13 total points, six rebounds, four assists and four steals. Cervantes has stepped up as a great ball handler who puts up good numbers in all categories.
“There were numerous times where we could have folded but didn’t and therefore had a great shot to win it at the end of the game,” Lappe said. “The ball just didn’t bounce our way.”
Metro kept it close, going back and forth with the lead with about nine minutes left. Metro grabbed a 62-61 lead with about five minutes left in the second half but it would be their last, as CCU guard Bre McBath sunk a 3-pointer with three minutes to go, which would be the eventual dagger.
After a fight to the finish, the Roadrunners took a 68-71 loss.
Feb. 4, Metro heads east to play against University of Nebraska at Kearney, who currently has a 4-13 record overall.
