CSU-Pueblo 69, Western New Mexico 50

PUEBLO, Colo. - The cliche goes that you live and die by the three.

Thursday, the ThunderWolves were all but left for dead by way of the three, shooting 2-for-12 in the first half from behind the arc and trailing 30-24 at halftime to Western New Mexico.

But the Pack changed their fortunes in the second half, sinking five straight three-point attempts during a game-changing 27-4 run, leading to what seemed like an easy 69-50 win over the visiting Mustangs.

But the ThunderWolves' win was nothing but easy.  Especially in the first frame.

The Mustangs shot 52 percent in the first half compared to just 25 percent by the Pack, only allowing the ThunderWolves to remain in the game because of 16 first half turnovers.  Everything was breaking the Mustangs' way, including the rebound war (20-12 in favor of WNMU) and 3-for-7 from beyong the arc.

But the ThunderWolves came out blazing in the second half.  The Mustangs built an even larger advantage, watching as the Pack missed two more threes to open the half, extending their lead to 11, 37-26.

Then the Pack broke loose. 

Michelle Ambuul (Sr., Colorado Springs, Colo.) hit the first three, followed by a Mary Rehfeld (Sr., Juneau, Alaska) trey.  Then Jonnie Draper (Sr., Littleton, Colo.) got in the act, burying two straight threes. 

And just three minutes later, what had been an 11-point disadvantage for the Pack turned into a 53-41 lead.  And from there, the ThunderWolves went into cruise control while Western New Mexico continued to implode.

The Mustangs shot just 21 percent in the second half, compared to 43 percent by the ThunderWolves.  The Pack shot 7-for-14 from beyond the arc in the second half, with two treys each being added by Ambuul, Rehfeld and Draper.  Rehfeld led all scorers with 17 points.

The ThunderWolves sweep the week with the win, earning their fifth win in six games.  The Pack now stands at 17-8 overall and 11-6 in RMAC play, and holding the third seed in the conference for the moment, as most of the RMAC plays its weekend games on Friday and Saturday.

CSU-Pueblo will enjoy a nine-game break before returning to the hardwood of Massari on Feb. 27 to face the Western State Mountaineers.