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DENVER - Jasmine Cervantes (Johnstown, Colo./Berthoud H.S.) came within three assists of the first triple-double in school history as No. 15 Metro State held off Western State 70-61 on Friday at home. The Roadrunners improved to 17-1 overall and 13-1 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, while the Mountaineers fell to 6-12 overall and 4-10.
Cervantes had 15 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists to go with two blocked shots and a steal. She shot 5-of-10 from the floor and 5-of-7 at the line.
Cassondra Bratton (Arvada, Colo./Pomona H.S.) also had a huge offensive night, scoring a season-high 21 points on 9-of-12 shooting, while pulling down six boards.
Brandi Valencia (Moriarty, N.M./Moriarty H.S.) scored eight points off the bench and
Alyssa Benson (Eden Prairie, Minn./Minnetonka H.S.) added six.
Tawny Drexler (Golden, Colo./Golden H.S.) grabbed seven rebounds.
Metro State shot a season-high 51.9 percent from the floor, including 3-of-6 from the outside. They also outrebounded WSC 41-25. The Mountaineers kept themselves in the game by turning the ball over just 10 times and hitting 7-of-15 from the outside.
WSC got off to a hot start early, leading 13-8 just seven minutes into the game as Brooke Pendergraft buried a pair of 3-pointers. Amy Andrus tied the game at 13-13 with a layup at the 10-minute mark.
The Mountaineers built their lead back to three with six minutes left in the half before a 13-2 run quickly erased that lead and Metro State led 33-25 with 2:50 left in the half. A late run cut Metro State's lead to 36-34 at halftime. Pendergraft led all scorers with 15 points at the break.
A layup on WSC's first possession briefly tied the game at 36-36, but Cervantes' layup three possessions later gave Metro State the lead for good.
The Roadrunners led by as much as 10 points at 54-44 with 11:33 left after a 3-pointer by Benson. The Mountaineers crawled back and cut the lead to three at 64-61 with 2:30 left. But Metro State outscored WSC 6-0 the rest of the game to hold on for the victory.
Pendergraft finished with 19 points to lead Western State.
Metro State will host Mesa State at 5 p.m. on Saturday.
