Despite seeing its three-game winning streak come to an end with a 79-58 non-conference loss at the University of Dallas, Colorado College gained a share of first place in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference's Western Division.
Still feeling the effects of last night's overtime victory at Austin College, the Tigers ran out of gas at the end of each of half and the Crusaders proved more than capable of taking advantage of the situation.
Colorado College was within striking distance at 25-17 after Jenny Knapp drained a three pointer with 7:31 remaining in the first half, but UD went on an 18-5 run to build a commanding 21-point lead after 20 minutes.
The Tigers cut their deficit to 45-33 when Becky Luetjen knocked down a short jumper 3:26 into the second half and trailed by the same margin when Gracie Rennecker completed a three-point play with 9:16 remaining in the game. That, however, was as close as CC would get.
Cara Sczepanski scored six of her game-high 29 points during the next 2:35 to fuel an 11-1 run that gave the Crusaders a comfortable 69-47 lead with 6:41 to play.
Luetjen led Colorado College with 11 points and five rebounds. Kalli Kemling and Emily Wattman-Turner added nine points apiece.
Kelly Regan scored 23 points for the Dallas.
CC committed 25 turnovers, 17 of which occurred in the first half when the Tigers made only six of 19 shots from the floor. At the same time, the Crusaders made 13 field goals and all 15 of their free throws.
Colorado College slipped to 6-8 overall, but joined a four-way tie atop the Western Division standings with a 3-2 conference record thanks to Southwestern's 70-68 victory over Millsaps.
Dallas, which joins the SCAC next year, improved to 8-6.
The Tigers are back on the road again next weekend when they travel to Rhodes College and Birmingham-Southern College for conference games on Friday and Sunday, respectively.
