Colorado College utilized red-hot three-point shooting during the first half and then connected on 15 of 17 free throws during the final 10 minutes to seal a 91-71 victory over St. Olaf College in the second game of the 2018 Rocky Mountain Thanksgiving Classic on Friday afternoon at Reid Arena.
CC sank 28 of 31 free-throw attempts to record its third win in four games. Meanwhile, the Oles were unable to take advantage of their opportunities and made only 16 of their 32 attempts at the charity stripe.
The Tigers drained nine of 14 long-range shots during the opening 20 minutes and built a 20-point lead when freshman
Izzy Hensley connected from the right corner to give her team a 49-29 lead with 1:49 remaining before halftime.
Hensley was 4-for-4 from behind the arc and 2-for-2 at the line during the first half when she scored all of her season-high 14 points.
Sophomore winger
McKenzee Gertz led CC with 22 points and 13 rebounds to post her first double-double of the season and the seventh of her career.
Senior guard
Casey Torbet went 8-for-8 from the line and finished with 17 points, while sophomore guard
Jade Odom scored 11 points and dished out five assists.
Colorado College hit five of six three-point attempts during the first quarter and built a commanding 29-15 lead after 10 minutes.
CC extended its advantage to 31-15 lead during the first minute of the second quarter when Gertz forced a turnover and dished the rock to
Jordan Meltzer who scored on a layup. Later, Gertz hit a three-pointer from the top of the arc gave the Tigers a 44-26 cushion with 2:48 to go in the second quarter.
St. Olaf trimmed its deficit to 15 points when sophomore guard Keegan Mulvihill picked off a pass and scored on a layup with 23 seconds left in the half, and then the Oles scored the first five points of the second half to pull to within 52-42 on junior forward Britta Koenen's three-pointer.
The Tigers answered with seven consecutive points and took a 13-point lead into the fourth quarter.
A layup by junior guard Ella Skrien cut the St. Olaf to 59-68, but four consecutive free throws by Torbet and Gertz slowed the Oles' momentum.
Skrien scored to make the score 76-65 with 6:33 to go, however Colorado College utilized a 9-4 surge to extend its lead to 16 points with 2:33 to play.
Freshman guard K'Lynn Lewis scored 19 points for St. Olaf, which dropped to 1-4.
Skrien added 12 points for the Oles, while Mulvihill grabbed a team-high seven rebounds.
In the tournament's first game, junior guard Kayla Bise came off the bench to score 18 points and lead East Texas Baptist University to an 89-56 victory over Johnson & Wales University. ETBU was in control from the outset, racing to a 28-9 lead after 10 minutes.
Senior guard Dominique Riley finished with a game-high 19 points to pace the Wildcats.
The two-day tournament continues Saturday when Johnson & Wales squares off with St. Olaf at noon.
Colorado College plays host to East Texas Baptist in the tournament finale at 2 p.m.
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