GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – The nationally ranked Mavericks (21-4, 17-2) enter a three-game road stretch that will begin this weekend against the Fort Lewis Skyhawks (15-9, 11-8) and the Adams State Grizzlies (3-22, 2-16) on Friday and Saturday. The Mavs will close the regular season against Western on Feb 28 in Gunnison, Colo. On Friday (Feb 21) the Mavericks will travel to Durango, Colo. to play the Skyhawks at 5:30 pm in the Whalen Gymnasium and on Saturday (Feb 22) the Mavericks will play Adams State in Plachy Hall beginning at 5:30 pm.
The Mavericks enter the weekend in first place of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference standings and sit two games ahead of Colorado School of Mines. In the win against Dixie State the Mavs clinched a first-round home game in the RMAC Tournament which will take place on Mar 3.
All About the Mavs
Head coach Taylor Wagner recently recorded his sixth 20-win season in just eight years as head coach of the women's basketball team. This is now back-to-back seasons the Mavs have recorded over 20 wins which has not happened since 2015. Wagner has totaled an impressive 189-45 record during his tenure.
The Mavericks rank first in the nation for scoring defense limiting opponents to 48.2 points per game and rank 12th nationally for defensive field goal percentage limiting opponents to just 33.5 percent from the field. The Mavericks rank first in the conference for scoring margin averaging wins by 13.3 points per game.
Sydni Brandon, the Mavs starting point guard, leads the conference in steals (68) and assists-to-turnover ratio (2.64). Brandon recorded her 300th career assists last weekend and now has 111 on the season which ranks third in the RMAC.
Boca Raton, Fla. native Daniella Turner leads the Mavs in scoring averaging 15.6 points per game which is the seventh highest points per game in the RMAC. Turner has led the Mavs in scoring 13 times this season.
Kelsey Siemons leads the conference in blocked shots at 40 and has recorded over half her points from the three-point line. This season the Tucson, Ariz. native recorded a career high seven blocks against Western Colorado. Siemons ranks third in the conference for field goal percentage (42.1).
Kylyn Rigsby is averaging 10.0 points per game while grabbing down 2.3 rebounds per game. As the best rebounder on the team, Sierra McNicol is averaging 6.2 rebounds per game. The South Jordan, Utah native has led the Mavericks in rebounding nine times this season.
The Mavericks are shooting 39.7 percent from the field, 30.6 percent from the three-point line and 68.2 percent from the free throw line to average 61.5 points per game.
National Ranking
For the fifth consecutive week the Mavericks have been ranked in the WBCA Division II Top 25 Coaches Poll. After entering the poll five weeks ago at No. 22 the Mavs reached their highest rank of the season last week at No. 19 (Feb 11). This week the Mavericks dropped to No. 24 which was released on Feb 18.
The WBCA NCAA Division II Coaches Poll committee is composed of one head coach from each of the 23 NCAA Division II conferences.
The Mavericks ranked No. 25 in this week's Women's Basketball Division II Media Poll which was released on Feb 18.
Regional Rankings
Colorado Mesa women's basketball team ranked fourth in the first South Central Regional Ranking which was released Wednesday (Feb 19) afternoon. There will be two more regional rankings released in the upcoming weeks before the selection show on Mar 8, which will announce the top eight teams of the region who will qualify for the NCAA Division II Women's Basketball Tournament.
Texas A&M-Commerce ranked first with a 24-0 record while Lubbock Christian ranked second with a 21-3 overall DII record. West Texas was one spot ahead of the Mavs in third with a 21-5 DII record.
Western Colorado and Westminster checked in sixth and seventh respectively, while Colorado School of Mines was ranked No. 10.
The No. 1 seed announced at the selection show will host the top eight teams. Games will be played Mar 13-16.
Scouting Fort Lewis
Fort Lewis is led by Jordan Vasquez who averages 11.7 points per game and a team best 6.5 rebounds per game. The next best scorer is Jordan Carter who averages 11.6 points per game and 6.2 rebounds per game.
Katrina Chandler who played for the Mavericks last season leads the team in assists and is averaging 3.38 per game.
The Mavericks have defeated the Skyhawks in the four previous matchups and own a 18-10 overall record. On the road the Mavericks are just 5-7 against the Skyhawks and have fallen two of the last three times visiting Whalen Gymnasium. The Skyhawks are 13-1 at home this season and just 2-8 on the road.
Their one home loss this season came to Eastern New Mexico prior to the RMAC season.
The Mavericks will look to sweep Fort Lewis after defeating them 38-35 earlier this season inside Brownson Arena.
Scouting Adams State
Adams State is led by Zakiya Beckles who averages 10.4 points per game. On the glass the Grizzlies are led by Paiton Demps who is averaging 4.4 rebounds per game.
The Grizzlies are shooting 32.6 percent from the field, 27.2 percent from the three-point line, and 69.3 percent from the free-throw line to average 48.6 points per game.
The Mavericks have defeated the Grizzlies in the previous 16 matchups and have not lost to the Adams State since 2011.
In the last matchup the Mavs defeated the Grizzlies 67-42.
Up Next
The Mavericks will wrap up the regular RMAC season against Western Colorado on Feb 28. The game will begin at 5:30 pm in Gunnison, Colo. at the Paul Wright Gym.
