Kearney, Neb. - The Colorado Christian women's basketball team scored the last nine points of the game to beat Nebraska-Kearney, 65-59, Tuesday night in a RMAC Tournament 1st round game in Lakewood, Colo.

The Cougars (18-9) advance to the semifinals in Pueblo, Colo., this weekend. UNK ends the year at 9-18 and sees its all-time RMAC tourney record slip to 29-10.

Prior to this year, UNK was 28-2 all-time against Christian. A veteran Cougars team, having one of the best seasons in school history, was 3-0 vs. the Lopers this winter.

Moment of the Game
CCU jumped out to a 20-8 lead nine minutes in but UNK slowly crept back, trailing by just a 34-32 score at the break.

In the 2nd half, neither team held more then a four point lead until the final score. A jumper from junior post Megan Becker gave the Lopers a 59-56 with 3:21 to play.

That would be UNK's final points of the 2009-10 season. Guard Brittany Long hit her fourth and final three of the game 20 seconds after Becker's shot to start CCU's final run.

In the final 2:44, the Lopers committed five straight turnovers and thus didn't take a shot from the field until there was 20 seconds left.

A free throw from senior post Juanise Cornell gave the Cougars the lead for good and, after making a steal, Jodie Krall sunk two more free throws to make the score 62-59 at the 2:04 mark.

Cornell was called for traveling with about a minute to go, allowing UNK to possibly tie the game, but a steal from Long led to two free throws from Krall instead.

On the night, UNK committed 25 turnovers which led to 17 Christian points. On the year, the Lopers had a minus five turnover margin.

Both teams shot under 40 percent from the field with the Lopers winning the rebounding battle by five, 45-40. UNK also made 14 of 19 free throws to end the season at 77.2 percent, a new school-record.

Lopers of the Game
Becker (Jr., F, Beaver City) - 13 points on 6 of 12 FG shooting, 10 rebounds (3rd double double of the year)
Kim Thissen (Sr., F, Davenpot, Ia.) - 12 points & a career-best 13 rebounds (2nd straight double double and 4th of the season)
Debi Johnson (So., G, Elsie) - 13 points on 3 of 4 3-point shooting, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 40 minutes
Vanessa Leeper (So., F, Colorado Springs) - 11 points on 5 of 7 FT shooting, 5 rebounds

Opponent Notes
Cornell finished with a team-high 17 points on 8 of 14 FG shooting, 7 rebounds, 29 minutes
Long finished with 14 pionts on 4 of 6 3-point shooting, 4 steals
Krall finished with 13 points on 6 of 8 FT shooting, 5 assists, 3 steals
Abby Rosenthal had 16 rebounds (11 defensive)