Alyssa Aldaz recorded 13 points, five steals and three assists as Colorado College held on for a 70-66 victory over the Milwaukee School of Engineering on Sunday afternoon at Reid Gymnasium.
On an afternoon when the Tigers shot just under 39-percent from the field, CC used its defense to preserve the victory. Colorado College scored 24 points off 25 Raider turnovers and finished the game with 16 steals and six blocked shots.
Despite missing more than 15 minutes of the first half after picking up two early fouls, Eliese Hansberry finished with 16 points, a team-high six rebounds and two blocked shots. Becky Luetjen added 16 points, four steals and three rebounds.
CC led 62-47 after Collier Clegg knocked down a short jumper with 5:13 remaining in the game, but Carol Cayo scored seven of her 11 points during a 14-4 run that pulled the Raiders to within five points when Kelly Costello buried a three pointer with 53 seconds to play.
Hansberry and Clegg each made a pair of free throws to help the Tigers extend their lead back to nine points before Jackie Bertram and Dana Guthrie combined for the final five points of the game.
Colorado College was in front for most of the first half, leading by as many as six points after an Aldaz layup 9:41 into the game. Guthrie gave MSOE its only on a drive to the bucket with 3:43 remaining in the first half, but Aldaz answered 10 second later to put the Tigers ahead for good.
Costello led the Raiders with a game-high 18 points, making seven of nine shots from the floor, including both attempts from behind the three-point line. Guthrie and Bertram each finished with 14 points, while Cayo had a game-high nine rebounds.
Colorado College takes a 3-1 record into its Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference opener on Friday night against Millsaps College.