Colorado College stormed back from a halftime deficit to earn a 50–49 win over Wartburg on Friday afternoon at Reid Arena, outscoring the Knights 19–10 in the fourth quarter to complete a dramatic comeback.
The Tigers finished with a 19–13 scoring advantage in the fourth quarter and received 22 points from their bench in the win.
CC struggled to find rhythm early as Wartburg built a 12–8 lead after the first quarter and extended the margin in the second. Wartburg pushed its advantage to as many as 13 points late in the half and carried a 25–18 lead into the break.
The Tigers began to chip away in the third quarter. JuJu Garcia knocked down a three-pointer early in the period to cut the deficit to four, but Wartburg responded to keep the Tigers at bay. CC closed the quarter on a small run and entered the fourth trailing 39–31.
The momentum entirely shifted in the final 10 minutes. CC opened the fourth quarter on a surge, trimming the deficit to 41–38 with just under seven minutes remaining. Iliana Greene buried a three-pointer at the 5:50 mark to give the Tigers their first lead of the game at 42–41.
The teams traded scores down the stretch before Greene connected on another three-pointer with 27 seconds left to put CC back in front, 50–49. The Tigers then came up with a defensive stop in the closing seconds to seal the win.
Greene led CC in scoring, finishing with a career-high 12 points while shooting 4-for-4 from the field and 4-for-4 from three-point range. She added two assists, four steals and two rebounds.
Rayna Welsch controlled the glass, pulling down a game-high 11 rebounds to go with 11 points, four assists and one steal. It's the third double-double of her career.
JuJu Garcia added eight points and knocked down two three-pointers while finishing with two assists and two steals.
Kayla Mackel contributed four points, two rebounds and two steals, while Avery Johnson dished out two assists and added two points off the bench.
The Tigers improved to 6-4 with the win and will head into the new year with a matchup against St. Thomas (TX) on Jan. 3 in Houston, Tex.