GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – The Colorado Mesa Maverick women's basketball team will look to spoil Western Colorado's perfect home record this Friday at 5:30 pm to concluded the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference regular season. This top-ten South Central regional matchup will take place inside Paul Wright Gymnasium in Gunnison, Colo. and feature the two top teams of the RMAC.
The Mavericks have clinched the RMAC regular season title with a 19-2 conference record while the Mountaineers are guaranteed the No. 2 spot in the RMAC Tournament with a 17-4 conference record.
This game has regional ranking position at stake as the Mountaineers are No. 5 in the latest South Central poll and Colorado Mesa is No. 4. This ranking is used to determine the top eight teams that will compete in the NCAA Tournament South Central Regional which will be selected on March 8.
All About the Mavs
Last weekend head coach Taylor Wagner clinched his fifth RMAC regular season title in just eight seasons and added the tenth overall title to the program. Mavericks enter the weekend on a two-game win streak. With this regular season title the Mavericks clinched a No. 1 seed in the RMAC Tournament. Under the direction of Wagner, the Mavericks are 11-4 in the RMAC Tournament and have won three tournament titles.
Daniella Turner, a Boca Raton, Fla. native leads the Mavs in scoring averaging 15.7 points per game which is the sixth highest scoring average in the RMAC. Turner's 173 made field goals is seven more than the next best in the RMAC. Turner's 42.1 field goal percentage ranks 8th.
Kelsey Siemons ranks fourth in the RMAC for three-point field goal percentage at 39.1 percent (61-of-156) and has recorded the most blocks of anyone in the conference at 43.
Sydni Brandon, the Mavs starting point guard, leads the conference in steals (77) and assists-to-turnover ratio (2.8). A Grand Junction, Colo. native, Brandon has recorded 121 assists this season and has 316 in her career. Brandon currently leads the team in rebounding averaging 6.3 rebounds per game.
Kylyn Rigsby is averaging 10.0 points per game as the third best scorer for the Mavs and Sierra McNicol averages 6.5 points per game and 6.1 rebounds per game.
Regional Ranking
The Mavericks stayed fourth in the second NCAA Division II South Central regional ranking which was released Wednesday (Feb 26) afternoon. There will be one more regional ranking released in the upcoming week before the selection show on March 8, which will announce the top eight teams of the region who will qualify for the NCAA Division II Women's Basketball Tournament.
The South Central region is made of the RMAC and the Lone Star Conference with each conference tournament winner getting and automatic bid.
Western Colorado improved to No. 5 just behind the Mavericks while Westminster ranks No. 6.
Texas A&M-Commerce ranked first with a 24-1 record and Lubbock Christian ranked third with a 23-3 record. West Texas is one spot ahead of the Mavs in third place with a 23-5 overall DII record.
The Mavericks were ranked fourth in the previous ranking which was released on Feb 19.
National Ranking
After being nationally ranked by the WBCA Division II Top 25 Coaches Poll for the previous five weeks the Mavericks dropped out of the national rankings, but are still receiving votes.
As for the D2SIDA Women's Basketball Week 13 National Poll released on Feb 25, the Mavericks rank No. 24.
Scouting Western Colorado
The Mountaineers of Western Colorado enter Friday's contest with a 19-6 overall record and a 17-4 conference record.
Samantha Coleman, a 5-9 guard from Las Vegas, Nev. leads the team with 10.5 points per game. She's recorded a team high 56 field goals from the three-point line and is averaging 4.6 rebounds per game.
The Mountaineers have maintained a perfect home record this season at 10-0 when playing inside Paul Wright Gym and are on a six-game win streak which included four home games and two road games.
They most recently swept Adams State and Fort Lewis on the road last weekend.
The Mavericks most recently played Western Colorado on Dec 20, 2019 and defeated them by a score of 44-36. Colorado Mesa is 21-6 all time against the Mountaineers and has won the previous three matchups. Two of those three wins were recorded at home.
Up Next
The Mavericks will host a RMAC Tournament quarterfinal game on March 3 against the No. 8 seeded team. The remainder of the tournament will take place March 5 and March 6 at the highest remaining seed's home venue.
