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Scoreboard

Women's Basketball
Antonio Morano Photography
The Rattlers' bench celebrates Friday's victory over Colorado State-Pueblo.
43
Colorado State-Pueblo CSUP 2-1
51
Winner St. Mary's STMUWB 4-2
Colorado State-Pueblo CSUP
2-1
43
Final
51
St. Mary's STMUWB
4-2
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Colorado State-Pueblo CSUP 19 24 43
St. Mary's STMUWB 24 27 51

Game Recap: Women's Basketball | | RattlerAthletics.com

Pullins' hustle helps lead Rattlers past Colorado State-Pueblo

By Chad Peters | St. Mary's Athletics Communications

SAN ANTONIO — With shoes or without, Morgan Pullins made her presence felt for St. Mary's with an endless display of hustle in Friday afternoon's opener of the St. Mary's Classic.
 
Pullins, who at one point lost a shoe and tossed it to coach Jason Martens along the bench before chasing down a rebound underneath the basket, scored 17 points and hauled in 15 rebounds to lead the Rattlers past Colorado State-Pueblo 51-43 at Bill Greehey Arena.
 
Pullins' fingerprints were all over the game's decisive moments as well, going after a loose ball along the baseline with time ticking down that helped the Rattlers ice the game. Pullins gained control of the ball and threw it back in to Kiara Etheridge, who calmly netted the easy layup to push StMU's lead to 49-41 with 27.5 seconds left.
 
Point guard Dezirae Elias had a huge game for the Rattlers (4-2), scoring nine points on 3-of-7 shooting from beyond the arc, while also recording a career-high eight assists and five steals. Kyra Littlejohn added eight points for the Rattlers, including several important driving layups that allowed the Rattlers to maintain a five-plus-point lead for much of the second half.
 
Despite shooting 24.2 percent in the first half, the Rattlers carried a 24-19 lead into halftime against the ThunderWolves (2-1). StMU's defense carried them through the first frame, winning the turnover battle 15-5 to enter the break with the lead.
 
Having settled for 3-point looks throughout much of that first half, the Rattlers got back to attacking in the second, and it paid off in a huge way.
 
Littlejohn drove hard to the basket for a traditional three-point play, giving the Rattlers their largest lead of the game at the time, 33-24, with 13:20 remaining.
 
Several possessions later, Etheridge worked her way inside, posting up a defender for a basket in the paint for a 38-28 advantage.
 
Just as CSU-P closed the gap to seven near the midway point, Elias electrified the crowd with a no-look pass to Pullins for an easy bucket underneath, pushing the lead back to 40-31 with 8:46 left.  
 
Still, the ThunderWolves wouldn't go away. A layup from Shannon Patterson cut the lead to 40-35 with 6:44 left, making the game as close as it had been since five minutes into the half. CSU-P later made it 44-41 with just under three minutes remaining.
 
After shooting a shade over 24 percent (8 of 33) in the first half, the Rattlers improved with a 9-for-20 second half to shoot 32.1 percent for the game. StMU was just 5 of 20 from beyond the arc.
 
The Rattlers held Colorado State-Pueblo scoreless for more than six minutes in the game, as the ThunderWolves didn't score until the 13:45 mark, when a pair of free throws cut StMU's lead to 6-2.
 
St. Mary's will return to action to close out the St. Mary's Classic on Sunday, when the Rattlers will take on Angelo State at 1 p.m. at Bill Greehey Arena.  
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