GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. - The Colorado Mesa women's basketball team will begin the RMAC season on the road against Western Slope foe Western State. The game will take place in Gunnison, Colo. at 5pm on Saturday Dec 1 in Paul Wright Gym. After going 2-0 last weekend in the Holiday Inn-Thanksgiving Classic the Mavericks have improved to a 3-1 record.
RMAC and National Leaders
Senior guard Jaylyn Duran is leading the RMAC in points per game at 24.2 points per contest. Duran is leading the country in 3-point field goals per game with 4.2 3-pointers a game. She has drained 21 3-point field goals in the first four games of her senior year.
Duran's 6 field goals made in the Maverick's first game against Saint Martin's ties her career high for 3-point field goals made. She has drained six 3-pointers five different times in her career dating back to her sophomore year when she made six against CSU-Pueblo.
Sydni Brandon is currently dominating the RMAC in assists to turnover ratio with an 11.0 assists to turnover ratio. The next best ratio is only 3.5. The Grand Junction native is also leading the country in this category. She has 22 assists on the season and has only tuned the ball over two times.
Brandon is also the Mavs leading rebounder and averaging six rebounds per game. Â
With Brandon's contributions Colorado Mesa is not only leading the RMAC but is one of the best in the country for assists to turnover ratio. They currently rank 7th in the country and are averaging 1.44 assists for every turnover.
Sophomore Standouts
Kylyn Rigsby and Daniella Turner are two of this year's team sophomores who have each shown out in the first four games. Rigsby is shooting above 50% in every category. She is shooting 58.3% in 3-point shots and 53.8% inside the arc. She has gone to the line three times and knocked down two of her attempts to give herself a 66.7 free throw percentage.
Turner is also shooting above 50% in every category although she has not yet reached the free throw line this season. She drained her only two 3-point shot attempts of the season to give herself a 100% 3-point percentage. Inside the arc she is shooting 53.6% and has made 15 field goals.
About Western State
Western State opened their season up last weekend in the Holiday Inn-Thanksgiving Classic and ended the weekend with a 2-0 record. The Mountaineers are averaging 67 points per game and limiting their opponents to 56.5 points per game which is just below Colorado Mesa who limits their opponents to 55 points per game.
The Mavericks will look to redeem themselves after falling to them late in the season last year. In their last meeting the Mavs were defeated 62-58.
Beyond This Weekend
Following the game against the Mountaineers the Mavs will travel to MSU-Denver on Dec 15 for a game at 4 pm followed by a game against Chadron State on Saturday Dec 16 at 3:30pm. They will host their first RMAC game after the New Year on Jan 4 and 5 against South Dakota School of Mines and Black Hills State, respectively. Both game will take place in Brownson Arena before the men's game at 5:30 pm.
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