GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – In a battle of two previous undefeated RMAC teams, The Colorado Mesa Maverick Women's Basketball team defeated the Western Colorado Mountaineers, 44-36 Friday night inside Brownson Arena to extend their win streak to seven games and remain undefeated in conference play. The Mavericks' record improved to 8-2 and 5-0 in conference while the Mountaineers fell to 6-3 and 4-1 in the RMAC.
Daniella Turner recorded her fifth consecutive 20-point game, to lead all scorers with 22 points. She was also the only scorer in double figures and scored half of the Mavericks' points. Sydni Brandon led the team in two categories, grabbing down seven rebounds while dishing out four assists. Kelsey Siemons who leads the RMAC in blocked shots, recorded a career-high seven in tonight's contest, just two away from a school-record.
The Mavs, who lead the nation in defensive statistics, limited the Mountaineers to just 27.7 percent from the field and a season-low 36 points to snap a six-game win streak for the Mountaineers.
It was a defensive battle from the start as the score was 5-5 after the first quarter. Both teams shot under 20 percent from the field to begin the game. Siemons was huge in the first quarter swatting away three shots and hauling in three defensive rebounds.
The Mavericks took over in the second quarter and gained a lead after Turner scored nine points to pace the Mavericks to a 21-18 edge at the break. Both teams had their best shooting quarter with CMU shooting 41.2 percent (7-17 FG) while Western shot 40.0 percent (4-10 FG).
After a back-and-forth battle to begin the third quarter, Colorado Mesa pulled away at the five minute mark when Turner hit a field goal to spark an 11-1 run that extended their lead to 37-28 entering the fourth quarter. The Mavs reached their largest lead of the game in that run. During that quarter, Siemons added two more blocked shots and Turner recorded eight points.
The largest lead of the game was matched at the 8:31 mark of the fourth quarter when Turner knocked down a three from Sierra McNicol to begin the final stretch. Western attempted a comeback outscoring the Mavs 8-7 in the final quarter but were denied by the Maverick defense. In the final play of the game, Siemons blocked an attempted three, to preserve the win.
CMU will break for the holidays before hitting the road to South Dakota to take on South Dakota Mines and Black Hills State on Jan. 3 and 4, respectively.
