PUEBLO, Colo. – MSU Denver was held to 25.6 percent shooting in the second half and dropped its season-opening women's basketball game against Texas A&M-Commerce 69-51 on Friday.
 
"Give them credit, they upped their pressure in the second half and we didn't handle very well," Metropolitan State University of Denver coach Tanya Haave said. "It was a great learning experience for us."
 
Veterans Jaiden Galloway and Bree Wellington led the Roadrunners with 11 points each. Wellington added three blocked shots, while Galloway was 3 of 6 from 3-point range.
 
"They were the ones who had better games, and it's not a coincidence because of their experience," Haave said.
 
The Roadrunners finished the first half on a 9-3 run to pull within 35-31 at the break, but Texas A&M-Commerce pulled away while outscoring MSU Denver 22-11 in the third period.
 
"We were starting to get into a rhythm at the end of the first half, but we couldn't follow it up in the second half," Haave said.
 
The Lions shot 52.9 percent from 3-piont range (9 of 17) for the game, including 3 of 5 in the third quarter and 4 of 8 in the second half.
 
MSU Denver shot 31.0 percent from the field for the game.
 
Losalini Katia had seven points and five rebounds for the Roadrunners, while Maggie Justinak scored six first-half points and Morgan Lewis contributed a team-high six rebounds.
 
MSU Denver faces top-ranked (SID poll) defending national champion Lubbock Christian (Texas) at 3:30 p.m. Saturday in the second game of CSU-Pueblo's Al Kaly Shrine Classic.