GOLDEN, Colo. – The No. 19 Colorado Mesa women's basketball team started the season off by defeating the team that ended their season a year ago. The Mavericks earned a 75-69 win over Arkansas-Fort Smith at the Tony Corbetta Classic hosted by Colorado Mines.
 
Sydney Small led all scorers in the game with 29 points and pulled down a game-high nine rebounds as well. Small, a transfer from Wabash Valley College, was 9-of-20 from the field and 10-of-12 from the free throw line and scored 21 points in the second half alone.
 
Junior guard Bryanna Adams added 15 points and was 3-of-7 from beyond the arc in her first game as a Maverick.
 
Ashley Stevens added 13 points in 21 minutes of work off the bench.
 
Colorado Mesa shot 41.3 percent (26-of-63) from the field and limited the Lions to just 33.3 (20-of-60) but shot 56.3 percent (9-of-16) from behind the three-point line.
 
At the half, Colorado Mesa owned a 34-30 lead and limited Arkansas-Fort Smith to just eight second quarter points.
 
Arkansas-Fort Smith defeated the Mavericks 68-65 in the South Central Regional in Amarillo, Texas last season to end the year.
 
Colorado Mesa will concluded their season opening weekend with a bout with ninth-ranked West Texas A&M at 1:00pm in Golden.