ThunderWolves stay several steps ahead of Western State

GUNNISON, Colo. - A late Western State charge was not enough to derail the ThunderWolves, who held control for most of the game and picked up a big 53-50 road win over the Mountaineers Saturday.

The ThunderWolves held the lead for all but five minutes of the game, but saw that lead nearly go down in flames near the end.

Trailing by seven with 1:40 remaining, Western State's Kim Ford nailed back-to-back treys to climb within one with 27 seconds remaining. But forced to foul, the Pack iced the game as Mary Rehfeld and Lindsay Black combined to hit 2-for-4 from the charity stripe down the stretch to hold on.

"We were able to hold our composure down the stretch, especially focusing on not turning it over against their trap defense," Pack coach Kip Drown said. "I'm proud of our team that they were able to hold on."

The Pack's performance down the stretch, which seemed shaky, was more of an adjustment from from the aggressive and versatile defense the Mountaineers threw at the ThunderWolves throughout.

The Mountaineers threw a variety of looks at the Pack, and changed schemes in an almost interchangable manner, forcing the ThunderWolves to adjust.

"They got after us hard defensively," Drown said. "They were going between zone and man, and makes it difficult offensively. But we put in an offense we had for switching defenses, and we did a good job attacking it, getting some cuts and some good looks."

Getting most of the good looks was Rehfeld, who put up a game-high 16 points following a 3-for-5 performance from the arc. Three other ThunderWolves added double digit scoring outputs, including Black, Michelle Ambuul and Kaylon Miller.

"I'm impressed with Kaylon's performance," Drown said. "She played like a senior and have us stability and made some big shots."

The Pack's win gives them their second of the road trip and improves their conference record to 10-5 this season. The Pack holds an overall mark of 16-7.