Source: Chieftain

By JEFF LETOFSKY
THE PUEBLO CHIEFTAIN

Excuse Caitlyn Jewell for missing the early portion of the 2009-2010 women's basketball season.

Head coach Kip Drown and her Colorado State University-Pueblo teammates have.

Jewell, a 6-foot-2 senior from Pagosa Springs, skipped the Pack's first three games this season. She had a good reason. She went to Beijing, China, with her family to bring her father home. Rick Jewell, 58, had gone to China to get treatment for Parkinson's disease, a disorder of the brain that causes a variety of movement problems.

"My father was having medical treatment," Jewell said following CSU-Pueblo's game Saturday at the Metro State Thanksgiving Classic in Denver. "He was diagnosed with Parkinson's a couple years ago and it escalated quite seriously and very fast the past few months. Right now, I'm grateful my dad is alive. We sent him over there; it's about quality of life and giving us a new hope."

Jewell left for China on Nov. 19. She returned Saturday, joining her team in Denver. "My dad went there to find a cure," Jewell said. "He went through stem cell therapy. It's about a year process. It'll be three to six months before he sees major improvement.

"Already, he's a whole new person. The tone in his voice, his energy. He looks so much younger and moves better and has the desire to live again."

Jewell said leaving the team was difficult but the right decision.

"My family is the most important thing for me right now," Jewell said. "It's something I needed to do, to be there for my dad and my family.

"It was still a difficult decision because I was sitting on the plane or in China thinking about my team and missing part of my senior year."

Jewell was able to follow the ThunderWolves’ progress via the Internet.

"I was able to get online every once in a while," she said. "The Internet there would let me log onto the school account once in a while."

Once Jewell and her family got her dad settled back in Pagosa Springs, she returned to the team on Saturday.

And played.

Drown admitted he was only going to use Jewell sparingly against Eastern New Mexico, but that's not what transpired.

Jewell ended up playing 20 minutes, nearly achieving a double-double with nine points and eight rebounds.

"My body was feeling really tired from serious jetlag," Jewell said. "I felt a little rusty at the beginning but it came back fast."

Drown and the Pack are happy to have Jewell back.

"We planned on getting her five or 10 minutes," Drown said. "We were getting production out of her. She had a good preseason and she picked right up. That was positive."

Jewell has played both basketball and volleyball during her career at CSU-Pueblo.

Men's basketball The ThunderWolves dive headlong into the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference season this weekend when they travel to Nebraska to take on Chadron State (2-3) and Nebraska-Kearney (3-2) on Friday and Saturday, respectively.

The Pack takes a 2-1 record into the first of 19 league games after splitting a pair of games at the Mesa State Thanksgiving Classic this past weekend in Grand Junction. The men dropped an 87-72 decision to No. 12-ranked Metro State in its first game before rocking Central (Mo.) Methodist 84-64.

The men are third in the league in scoring defense (64.7) and fourth in assists

(17.7) as they gear up for the conference campaign.

Senior Eastern Washington transfer Chris Busch has led the way thus far by

scoring 18 points a game and hauling down 8 rebounds per contest, tops in the

RMAC. Busch also is tied for sixth in field-goal percentage at 63.6. Junior teammate Daniel Pierce is scoring 11.7 points a game and is fifth in field-goal percentage at 64.7.

Women's basketball

The defending RMAC Shootout champions open defense of their title with a pair of road games in Nebraska - Friday and Saturday at Chadron State (0-3) and Nebraska-Kearney (0-4).

CSU-Pueblo enters the conference season with a 2-2 overall mark after splitting a pair of games at the Metro State Thanksgiving Classic this past weekend in Denver. The Pack defeated Northwest Missouri State 82-69 before falling to Eastern New Mexico 74-70.

The T-Wolves are the third highest scoring team in the RMAC at 73.2 points a game. They are first in turnover margin (plus 7.5), assist/turnover ratio (1.3) and 3-pointers made per game (8.5) and second in free-throw percentage (77.3).

Individually, junior point guard Rachel Espinoza is fifth in the conference in scoring (15.8) and sixth in free-throw percentage (88.9). Freshman Katrina Selsor is 10th in scoring (14.3), sixth in assists (4.0), seventh in steals (2.3) and ninth in rebounding (8.0)

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Wrestling

With Thanksgiving break in the rear-view mirror, the CSU-Pueblo wrestling team has a busy week ahead.

The Pack makes its home debut at 7 p.m. Wednesday when it tangles with Oklahoma City University at Massari Arena.

Oklahoma City is ranked No. 9 in the most recent NAIA poll and the Stars competed last Saturday in duals against NCAA Division I foes, No. 11-ranked Oklahoma and North Carolina State in Norman, Okla. The Stars lost to the Sooners 30-16 and then fell to North Carolina State 36-8.

"This is going to be an exciting dual for us against Oklahoma City," CSU-Pueblo coach Dax Charles said. "They're a good team and my guys are healthy and ready to go."

Then the ThunderWolves hit the road for Primm, Nev., facing New Mexico Highlands at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Star of the Desert Arena. Highlands is coached by former Pack coach Doug Moses.

CSU-Pueblo will stay in Primm Friday and Saturday for the 28th annual Cliff Keen Invitational, a 44-team tournament full of some of the top Division I programs in the nation. Nebraska is the defending champion.

- Tracy Renck