COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- Colorado College made four free throws in the final 35 seconds to prevent the comeback attempt by the Lewis & Clark Pioneers, closing out an 80-74 victory in a streaky contest at the Rocky Mountain Thanksgiving Classic inside the J. Juan Reid Gymnasium on Friday afternoon.
Entering the fourth quarter down 64-52, the Pioneers saw Colorado College's lead grow to 18 points before Lewis & Clark started a streak of its own. Baskets by Kelley Koeppen, Sara Hogman and Miyah Leith moved the score to 74-59.
After a score by Korbyn Ukasic for the Tigers, Lauren Wood hit back-to-back shots for the Pios with just under 4:30 remaining. Cianna Ochoco's 3-point shot and Koeppen's score moved Lewis & Clark back within eight points, 76-68, with 2:38 remaining.
Janessa Willie hit a pair of free throws with 1:10 left, but 76-70 was the closest the Pios got before Colorado College closed out the game.
Lewis & Clark (0-5) didn't lead after the 8:19 mark of the third quarter.
Leith led the Pioneers with 18 points on 7 of 15 shooting followed by 11 points from Natalie Kelly. Off the bench, Wood scored 17 points in her return to her home state of Colorado. She made 7 of 9 from the field and added eight rebounds, both season highs.
Ochoco added eight points, Koeppen put in seven and Mathewson had four points. Sara Hogman had seven off the bench.
Danielle Davis led all scorers with 25 points for Colorado College (1-4). Francesca Cendali was a perfect 4 of 4, including two 3-pointers, to get 10 points along with 10 from Ukasick.
The Pios led 5-4 early after the opening tip before Colorado College went on a 17-3 run to build a 13-point lead. Lewis & Clark's Mathewson and Wood scored three straight baskets in about a minute span to slow the Tigers' momentum and keep Colorado College's lead to 26-20 at the end of one quarter.
Despite nearly trailing the entire first half, the Pioneers led 41-40 at halftime behind 11 points from Kelly. The teams shot nearly evenly in the opening 20 minutes, but Lewis & Clark was outshot from 3-point range 40 to 14 percent.
Colorado College controlled the third period, but Lewis & Clark had started to shift momentum with under two minutes left in the quarter, including an outstanding play by Mathewson. The senior lunged toward the sideline, saving the ball behind her back before stepping out of bounds, hitting Hogman who scored a lay-up.
Lewis & Clark plays Augsburg on Saturday at 12 p.m. in the team's final non-conference game before playing the Northwest Conference opener on Dec. 4 at Whitworth.