Coming into Friday night, the Mavericks were tied for the eighth spot in the conference standings. With just five games remaining, every game counts for the Mavericks. With New Mexico Highlands in town, the Mavs had the chance to start the final stretch hot.

“We got great looks and we are starting to play how we practice,” Kelsey Sigl said. “Other than the turnovers, we have things rolling right now.”

After falling behind 7-1 with 16:53 still to go in the first half, the Mavericks turned it up on the Cowgirls. Katrina Selsor hit a three to cut the lead in half, and Sigl hit a post-up shot to give the Mavs their first lead at 8-7. The Mavs built a 15-7 lead before the Cowgirls would score again. The Mavs defense held the Cowgirls to zero points for over eight minutes. The Maverick offense continued to heat up, as they were able to end the half shooting 36 percent. After a buzzer beater by Highlands' Ashley Godfrey, the Mavs lead at the half was cut to four, 26-22.

“We were able to take care of the ball and our defense played very well,” Amy Weitzel said.

Weitzel led all Maverick scorers with eight first half points as she chipped in with four rebounds. Sigl added six points and four rebounds and Selsor had four points, two rebounds and two assists.

After scoring the first three points, the Mavs struggled against the Cowgirl's full court press. After a turnover at half court, Highlands laid the ball in, then got the ball back and put up a three to cut the Maverick lead to just two. Highlands then tied it, but that was the last time they had any kind of control.

The Mavs went on a 10-0 run to go up 39-29 and never looked back. Sigl continued to control the post and players like Leanndra Gilbert and Selsor were able to take advantage of open jumpers. When the final horn sounded, the Mavs won 65-47, and postseason hopes are still alive.

Sigl led all players with 20 points and seven rebounds. Weitzel and Tara Gehring each recorded 10 points as Weitzel had six rebounds. The Mavs out-rebounded the Cowgirls 49-39, which might have been the turning point.

“It's huge that we won that battle,” Sigl said. “We struggled with rebounds earlier. When Selsor and Duncan went down, our lineup went from big too little. We struggled at first, but now we have been winning the battles lately.”

With the win, the Mavs improve to 10-12 on the season and very much alive in the postseason hunt. The Mavericks will try to build off their momentum tomorrow night when they host Western New Mexico in Brownson Arena at 5:30 p.m.