Lady Coyotes rally for win over Colorado-Colorado Springs
By: David Toelle, KWU Sports Information

GOLDEN, Colo. – A 20-day layoff for Kansas Wesleyan must have revitalized the Lady Coyotes, as they rallied from a six-point deficit to come away with a 73-69 win over the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs on Friday at the Colorado Mines Classic.

Wesleyan (5-9) led 1-0 on a free throw from Charressa Gray, but fell behind by as many as six early, as Tonya Tripp gave UCCS a 9-3 lead with 15:14 left in the first half. The Coyotes rallied, tying things up at 10-all on a three by Sarah Montoya with 12:28 left, and taking a 13-12 advantage on another three by Jentri Dixon with 11:10 to go.

Dixon gave the Coyotes another lead at 30-29 with 4:11 to go in the half before UCCS went on a 7-0 run to take a six-point lead with 2:28 left. Wesleyan would fight back with a 7-0 run of its own, taking a 37-36 lead with just under a minute left on free throws by Ascendra Peters. Emily Jenkins would hit one of two UCCS foul shots with 27 seconds left to send the game into the half tied at 37-all.

After a Dolly Fiedelman score gave UCCS the lead at 39-37, Wesleyan would take another short lived lead on another Montoya three with 16:54 left. A 9-2 UCCS run would give the Mountain Lions a 48-42 lead with 13:11 left, before the Coyotes would rally, taking a 49-48 lead on a bucket by Peters with 12:07 left.

Alex Pitts would give UCCS a 54-53 lead on a pair of free throws with 8:16 left, sparking a 10-3 run that gave the Mountain Lions a 62-56 lead with 5:17 left. Wesleyan would rally, tying things up at 65-all with 2:07 left on a pair of free throws by Khristy Santee, as part of a 16-5 Coyote run that put Wesleyan up five 72-67 just before the end of the game.

Peters led the Coyotes with 14 points, while Montoya scored 12, and Santee added 11. Wesleyan shot 40.4 percent from the field on 23-of-57 shooting. Tierra Baldwin led the Coyotes with nine boards, in her best outing of the season. Gray also added five rebounds.

Colorado Springs (1-8) was led by Dolly Fiedelman with 18 while Emily Jenkins added 13 and Tonya Tripp had 12. The Mountain Lions shot 38.5 percent from the field on 25-of-65 shooting. They also easily won the rebounding battle 48-36 as Jenkins led with 12 and Tripp added 10 for double-doubles for both players.

Wesleyan concludes its Colorado trip tomorrow against the host Colorado School of Mines at 4:00 PM in Golden. The game will be an exhibition for KWU. Wesleyan returns to KCAC play on January 4 as they host Sterling. Wesleyan stunned the Warriors 67-66 in the last meeting between the teams last season.

-- KWU SI --