WEEK IN REVIEW
The Mavericks made their longest in conference road trip of the season as they traveled to South Dakota for matchups with the Black Hills State Yellow Jackets and the South Dakota Mines Hardrockers. All was not lost as they fell in game one on Friday evening to Black HIlls State and were able to salvage the split as they defeated South Dakota Mines.
Colorado Mesa was off by all accounts as they scored their fewest amount of points during the season in a 59-45 loss to the Yellow Jackets. Olivia Reed led the way with 11 points while Jamisyn Heaton had eight points and nine rebounds.
The following night didnt start off so hot either against South Dakota Mines. The Mavericks fell behind 38-31 at halftime before roaring back to own the second half 37-23 to take the 68-61 win. Olivia Reed had 23 points and nine rebounds while Monica Brooks finished with 12 points and nine rebounds. Kylie Kravig finished with 13 points and five assists.
Colorado Mesa remained perfect all-time against the Hardrockers with a 9-0 mark that dates back to the 2015-16 season.
CONTINUING TO IMPRESS
Freshman front court player Olivia Reed continues to impress not only her coaches but the fans as well. She leads the team in scoring at 11.9 points per game and she is among the nation's leaders in field goal percentage at 61.7 percent. That is the second best mark in the conference and the ninth best percentage in NCAA Division II.
Many have noticed her rebounding which is fantastic. The Windsor native leads the conference in total rebounds at 156, also 27th best nationally. She averages 9.2 rebounds per game, also the top mark in the conference.
What many wont know is how good of a shot blocker she is. She has racked up 23 blocked shots in 17 games which is second best in the conference and 41st nationally. More amazing, her next blocked shot will rank her 30th in career blocked shots at Colorado Mesa. Her trajectory has her on pace to finish among the all-time great shot blockers including Susan Luecke, Pam DeCosta, Carrie Dixon, and Kelsey Siemons.
STANDINGS CHECK
We are coming down the stretch of the basketball season and so it is time to check in on the standings and where the Mavericks stand.
Colorado Mesa is currently in a tie for eighth place in the standing but would lose the tiebreaker if the season ended today. But, the standings are tight and a win or two or a loss or two have huge ramifications on the standings. Also, not all teams have played the same amount of games at this point.
Colorado School of Mines still tops the conference at 9-2 with Regis and Black Hills State both with two losses as well but not as many wins. Adams State is right behind them at 8-3 to round out the top four teams.
Teams slotted from number five to number ten are separated by just two games.
The RMAC Tournament is scheduled to begin on Tuesday February 28 with the tp eight teams scheduled to participate.
THE STREAKS CONTINUE
Despite the up-and-down season the Mavericks have had this season, they have continued some of their longer winning streaks they have had going.
The Mavericks have beaten New Mexico Highlands 17 straight times dating back to the 2011-12 season while they have beaten Chadron State 19 straight times which goes back to the 2010-11 season.
The longest streak that was kept alive this year came after the Mavericks win over Adams State prior to the winter break. That win extended the win streak to 22 that dates back to the 2011-12 season.
LOOKING AHEAD
Colorado Mesa is in the midst of a disjointed week as they have three games in the span of eight days. The amount of games in that span isnt unusual but when they occur is the oddity. They will play at Fort Lewis this Friday then travel to Westminster on Tuesday for a midweek game before finally returning to Brownson Arena next Saturday for a game with Western Colorado.
Following the matchup with Western Colorado, they will continue their home stand with a matchup with Regis and UCCS at home on February 3-4. The game against UCCS on February 4 will be the annual Blizzard in Brownson matchup.
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.
