PUEBLO, Co. - Missouri Western women's basketball led at halftime and held a lead for more than eight minutes, but the Griffons (2-1) lost to Colorado Christian, 79-70, on Friday evening at Massari Arena in Pueblo.

Missouri Western got down 18-10 at the end of the first quarter, but recovered nicely, scoring 25 points in the second quarter on a 6-of-11 effort from three, giving the Griffons a 35-34 advantage at halftime.

Missouri Western kept it up in the third quarter, shooting 8-of-15 from the field in that frame, and eventually leading 60-54 with 9:50 to play. CCU (1-2) retook the lead at 63-62 with 7:49 to play after a made three-pointer by Maggie Phipps. Missouri Western never retook the lead after that, as the Cougars ended the game on an 8-1 run.

Missouri Western was outscored 25-13 in the fourth, as the Griffons were held to 5-of-14 shooting in the final 10 minutes. For the game, Missouri Western shot 26-of-59 (44.1%), including 13-of-33 (39.4%) from three. Missouri Western was just 5-of-10 at the free throw line, while Colorado Christian was a solid 20-of-24.

The Cougars also dominated on the glass, 44-26, including 13-3 on the offensive glass. That led to 13 second chance points for CCU.

Alyssa Bonilla led the way for MWSU with a career-best 18 points to go with eight assists and six rebounds. Matilda Soderlund scored 12 points on a 4-of-9 effort from long range. Kassandra Caron scored 10 points to go with a blocked shot and a steal. Malgorzata Byczkowska scored a season-best nine points off the bench on a 3-of-5 mark from three.

Missouri Western is back in action on Saturday to face Colorado State-Pueblo. Tip-off is set for 5 p.m. central. The game is available to watch for free on the RMAC Network.

CSU-Pueblo (1-2) beat Texas A&M-Kingsville on Friday, 62-50.