PUEBLO, Colo. – The Colorado Mesa women's basketball team dropped a nail-biter in their first game back from the break as they fell 67-66 to the CSU Pueblo ThunderWolves on Friday (Dec. 30) afternoon in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference action at Massari Arena.
 
Colorado Mesa had the ball with seven seconds left but missed a three-pointer and short jumper on a put back before falling late.
 
After going into the half tied at 30-30, the ThunderWolves took a 10-point lead after a 7-0 run with 3:31 to go in the third quarter, but that didn't keep the Mavericks down as they trailed by seven heading to the fourth.
 
They took the lead at 55-54 with 7:27 to play in the game after Oliva Reed buried a pair of free throws. It was the last lead the Mavericks had but the game stayed within one possession the remainder of the game.
 
Reed had a career night as she finished with 24 points and 11 rebounds on 10-for-15 shooting from the field while adding three assists and two steals. It is the first 20-point effort of the season for the Mavericks and her fifth double double of the season.
 
Sophomore Tia Slade also produced a career night as she finished with 19 points on 8-for-15 shooting from the field and earned her first career double double as she pulled down 11 rebounds.
 
Kylie Kravig finished with a career-high 11 assists.
 
Colorado Mesa outshot the ThunderWolves from the field at 41.3 percent and had the rebounding edge at 50-31. The combined defense limited CSU Pueblo stars Charisse Fairley and JaNaiya Davis to a combined 16 points and 6-for-20 shooting from the field.
 
The Mavericks will close out the road trip tomorrow afternoon with a matchup with an upstart New Mexico Highlands at 2:00pm in Las Vegas, N.M.