Area colleges: UCCS women cruise

ALAMOSA - Mallory Lowe finally recorded the elusive double-double to lead the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs to a 76-49 victory over the Oklahoma Panhandle State Aggies Friday afternoon at Plachy Hall.

Lowe scored 17 points on 7-for-13 shooting and grabbed 10 rebounds for her first career double-double. She also had a team-high three steals and two assists.

"Mallory is a really good athlete; she just gets ahead of herself sometimes," said UCCS coach Stephen Kirkham. "Like a lot of kids in the program, she just needs to better understand timing and spacing. She's gotten better each game."

The 27-point margin of victory was the highest since Dec. 5, 2008 when UCCS beat Johnson & Wales by 32. Before that, you have to search all the way back to Jan. 5, 2006, a 32-point win over Colorado Christian, for a gap as large.

Alyse Bessert scored all 15 of her points and grabbed six of her seven rebounds in the second half for UCCS (1-1). Lauren Holm added 10 points and a team-best three assists, while Payden Ackerman and Kallie Jiblits each had seven points.

The Mountain Lions enjoyed great balance in their scoring, getting 43 points from the starters and 33 from the reserves. They also got 45 points from their post players.

"Everybody we put into the game did some good things," said Kirkham. "We have a lot of players who are pretty similar and it's just a case of understanding what your role is."

The Mountain Lions showed some of the stifling defense that was a trademark of Kirkham's teams at Mesa State. UCCS held Panhandle State to just 26.3 percent shooting from the field and outrebounded the Aggies 47-31.

"We played pretty good defense, rebounded pretty well and got the ball in the paint and scored in the paint," said Kirkham. "That's what you have to do to win in the RMAC."

UCCS shot over 40 percent for the second time in as many games this season, hitting 49.1 percent of its shots Friday. The Mountain Lions reached the 40 percent mark just 10 times in 27 games this past season (going 5-5) and 30 times the previous three seasons (21-9).

Kariz Bioni led Panhandle State (2-1) with 13 points.

Other women's games

• Raimee Beck had 25 points and 10 rebounds, but Air Force (1-3) lost 73-65 to Portland.

• Brittany Spears scored 19 points and Sierra grad Chucky Jeffery had seven on a miserable shooting night in her first college start as Colorado beat Illinois-Chicago 63-49 at the Subway Classic in Minneapolis.

• Becky Luetjen scored 13 points to lead four Colorado College players in double figures in an 86-64 victory over Augustana in its Tip-Off Tournament. CC plays Piedmont on Sunday.

• Chastity Reed had 21 points and 10 rebounds as Arkansas-Little Rock beat Northern Colorado 55-43 in the Preseason WNIT.

Air Force hockey recruits

Ten North American Hockey League and United States Hockey League players have made verbal commitments to play for Air Force, according to the leagues’ Web sites.

Their signing a certificate of intent is dependent on obtaining an appointment to the academy.

One of the prospective signees is Wichita Falls forward Aaron Quick of Monument. The others:

NAHL: Alpena IceDiggers, forward Ryan Timar; Bismarck Bobcats, forward Jason Fabian; Owatonna Express, forward Ben Persian; Wenatchee Wild, defensemen Adam McKenzie and Alex McLean, forward Mitch Torrel; Wichita Falls Wildcats.

USHL: Cedar Rapids RoughRiders, defenseman Thomas Fallen; Fargo Force, forwards Cole Gunner, Joe Rehkamp

Water polo

Air Force, seeded second, dropped a 10-9 decision to seventh-seeded Whittier in the opening round of the Western Water Polo Association Championship on Friday in Orange, Calif.

The Falcons’ Kurt Wallin tied the game with 54 seconds left, but Alex Perry’s fifth goal of the game 25 seconds later sealed the win for Whittier. Alex Churnside had four goals to lead Air Force (17-13), who move into the consolation semifinals.

Diving

Air Force was led by senior David Arlington’s seventh-place finish on the 1-meter springboard during the first day of the Wildcat Diving Invitational in Tucson, Ariz.