GUNNISON, Colo. - The Colorado Mesa Mavericks traveled to Gunnison, Colo. for the opening game of the 2018-2019 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference regular season and defeated the Mountaineers 53-41. They improved to a 4-1 record and Karina Brandon recorded her second career double-double and first of the season. Jaylyn Duran lead the Mavericks in scoring with 14 points for her fifth consecutive game.

Game in Review

The Mavericks started out the game with a 10-0 run that happened within the first two minutes of the opening tip. Kelsey Siemons started the game with a block and two 3-pointers. Kylyn Rigsby contributed a three and a free throw to reach the 10-0 lead. The Mountaineers quickly answered back by going on 17-2 run starting at the 6:41 mark to close out the first quarter with a 17-12 lead.

Jaylyn Duran who leads the Mavericks in scoring was scoreless throughout the first half and was held to 0-3 shooting. She scored the first four of the Mavericks first six points and took the lead 29-27 with a layup at the 8:21 mark in the third quarter. This was the first time the Mavericks led since the first quarter. The Mavericks outscored the Mountaineers 22-6 during this ten minutes span and shot an impressive 52.9% in the last two quarters compared to their 23.1 shooting percentage they shot in the first two quarters.

The Mavericks third quarter scoring was enough to survive Western outscoring the Mavs 11-8 in the fourth quarter. The Mavericks went 11-14 from the free-throw line in the second half to secure the win and Duran made five free-throws in the last 1:12 of action.

The Mavericks saw their largest lead in the fourth quarter when they led 45-27 and they outrebounded the Mountaineers 36-30. Karina Brandon recorded a game high 11 rebounds to add to the Mavericks success off the glass.

The Mavericks opened up RMAC play with a win against Western for the third consecutive year.

Next Up

The Mavericks return home to Brownson Arena for games against University of Colorado Colorado Springs and Colorado School of Mines on Dec 7 and 8, respectively. The game will take place at 5:30 pm on both Friday and Saturday night.