WEEK IN REVIEW
The Mavericks headed out on the road for their first conference road weekend when they traveled to the Front Range for bouts with UCCS in Colorado Springs and Regis in Denver.
Colorado Mesa couldnt buy a basket in a 71-51 setback to the UCCS Mountain Lions in the Gallogly Event Center. The Mavericks made just four field goals in each quarter and shot just 27.6 percent from the field. Tia Slade led the team with 11 points.
The Mavericks looked to get back in the win column against Regis the next afternoon. They trailed early in the game but fought back and took a 53-52 lead into the fourth quarter after outscoring the Rangers 23-16 in the third quarter. They wound up falling 72-64 with Olivia Reed and Monica Brooks leading the way in scoring with 15 a piece.
RUNNING THE POINT
Sophomore Kylie Kravig is seeing her first extended minutes of her career this season and producing some solid numbers as she leads the conference in assists at 4.4 per game and is third in conference only games at 4.5 assists a night.
She had a career-high nine assists against No. 18 Colorado School of Mines and she is currently on pace to finish in the Colorado Mesa top ten in assist average. She is short of her former teammate Mariah Martin who finished last season with a program record 176 assists and an average of 5.9 assists per night which is second all-time.
FRESH SLADE
Sophomore Tia Slade is another Maverick who is seeing extended minutes for the first time in her career this season. She is among the league leaders in minutes at 29.2 minutes per game.
Against UCCS, she may have had one of her more compete games of her career. She finished with a career-high 11 points on four made field goals and three three-pointers.
The Highlands Ranch native is among the team leaders in three-point field goal percentage at 34.6 with nine makes on 26 attempts.
DEEDE DID IT
Another sophomore producing solid minutes is Springville, Utah native Lauryn Deede. She came off the bench last weekend and averaged over 18 minutes of floor time and produced on both ends of the floor.
Against UCCS, Deede chipped in six points, pulled down three rebounds and handed out an assist in 20 minutes of action.
The next night she scored just two points on 1-of-3 shooting from the field but wound up pulling down a career-high seven rebounds against Regis. All seven rebounds came on the defensive end while also passing out one assist in 17 minutes of action.
THE SICK AND THE WOUNDED
Every winter sport team deals with sickness throughout the season and injuries are a part of every team in every season. The Mavericks are no different but it seems the injuries have continued to stack up and the flu bug hit last weekend.
Colorado Mesa is now missing eight players with injuries with at least five slated to miss the entire season as of now. Most teams have the occasional one or two players miss an entire season but the Mavericks could have up to eight after last weekends games.
The sickness going around struck the team last weekend and several substitutions needed to be made for players needing a breather after head colds, sore throats, and nausea.
SWAT TEAM
Colorado Mesa has been known to have a good shot blocker roaming the paint ever since head coach Taylor Wagner became the head coach. From Kelsey Sigl to Erika Musante to Kelsey Siemons, the Mavericks have been able to block shots.
The Mavericks continue to lead the conference in blocked shots at 3.6 blocks per game and 4.5 blocks in conference-only games. The piled up nine rejections in the two games last weekend including six against Regis.
The Mavericks have a total of 36 blocked shots this season and are led by the 13 from freshman Olivia Reed. Monica Brooks and Kylie Kravig each have seven blocks with Tia Slade and Jamisyn Heaton at three blocks each.
LOOKING AHEAD
Not to jump too far ahead but the Mavericks will be on the NCAA mandated winter break for the next several days following the matchup with Adams State. They will be back in action on December 30 and December 31 against CSU Pueblo and New Mexico Highlands.
The Mavericks next four opponents including CSU Pueblo and New Mexico Highlands have a combined record of 21-19 which shows the schedule doesnt get any easier for Colorado Mesa.
RMAC PRESEASON POLL
Colorado Mesa was picked to finish fifth in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference as voted on by the coaches. The Mavericks are coming off a year where they made the the NCAA South Central Region Tournament for the sixth time during his tenure.
Colorado School of Mines was picked to win the conference garnering 183 points and eight first place votes. RMAC coaches seemed to be mixed on what they think. Five schools received at least one first place vote which included Mines, second place CSU Pueblo, third place Black Hills State, fourth place MSU Denver, and the Mavericks.
THE LONE SENIOR
With the large group of COVID players exiting a year ago, Colorado Mesa has just one senior on their roster this season. In fact, they have just one junior on the roster as well.
Redshirt senior Monica Brooks is the lone senior on the roster and one of three Mavericks that has starting experience on the team as she entered the season with 19 career starts and has a record of 13-6 in those starts when she started the season.
THE STAFF
Joining head coach Taylor Wagner on his staff is long time assistant Hannah Pollart. The Colorado Mesa grad has been the Mavericks assistant coach since May of 2016 after a short stop at Northeastern Junior College. She was responsible for on and off campus recruiting, conditioning, weight training, player development, and scouting reports.
With Colorado Mesa, she coaches the posts, assists with recruiting, develops scouting reports, and coordinates travel among other duties taht assist in the development of the program.
As a player, she starred at Colorado Mesa for one season and helped lead the Mavericks to the NCAA South Central Region Championship game. During her senior season, she averaged 7.2 points and 6.1 rebounds per game.
