GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. — There are still plenty of unknowns for the Colorado Mesa women's basketball team, but heading into the 2023-24 season, head coach Taylor Wagner is happy to see players on the court and not rehabbing injuries on the sideline.
Hampered by several season-ending injuries a year ago, the young Mavericks finished 13-16, their first sub-.500 season in Wagner's tenure, but still reached the RMAC Tournament with a 12-10 conference mark.
Although some players are still working their way back into being competition-ready, Wagner knows that will happen as the season progresses, so he's eager to get started in the D2CCA Tip-Off Classic Nov. 3-5 in British Columbia.
"I look back at last year at this time, we're further ahead than what we were," Wagner said. "Obviously the girls feel more comfortable and some are just kind of getting back from the injuries, so they're still kind of trying to work through some things, having confidence out there. It's going to be a work in progress but in my mind, some kids are going to get a lot better."
THE ROTATION
Wagner and assistant coach Hannah Pollart spent plenty of time during practice formulating rotations, but they have options.
One given is Olivia Reed, last season's RMAC Freshman of the Year and the only freshman to make the All-RMAC first team, will be in the lineup at one forward spot. The offense will run through Reed in the post, but, Wagner said, the rest of the players on the floor will be offensive weapons.
Reed, a second-team all-South Central Region performer last season, averaged 12.4 points and 9.5 rebounds, starting every game. She was a three-time RMAC defensive player of the week, grabbing a season-high 18 rebounds twice. The 6-foot sophomore scored a season-high 24 points against CSU Pueblo.
"We're going to have to go through her, but I think we have a lot of players that can complement her this year, where last year there were times where she didn't even have the ball and had a double, even triple-team on her before she even touched it. I think it's going to be a little different this year, we've got some more offensive threats to kind of balance it out," Wagner said.
Guard Laura Gutierrez, who came off the bench last season and averaged 8.2 points a game, will be one of those threats in the starting five and is the only senior on the roster. The Mavs added junior transfer Claire Heitschmidt, a 6-1 forward from Central Washington, to play alongside Reed in the post. Off the bench in the post are junior Lauren Deede and redshirt sophomore Josee Steadman.
Point guard Kyle Kravig and wing Tia Slade also return from last season's starting lineup, however, Slade is dealing with an injury and is out indefinitely. The improved depth and the quick emergence of a freshman guard has made for plenty of competition for playing time in the backcourt.
Redshirt junior guard Sophie Hadad, who missed all of last season and part of her freshman season with injuries, is expected to play a pivotal role. Her 5-11 frame makes her a tough matchup on the wing, and she improved her outside shooting once she was cleared for limited practice last season.
Look for Mason Rowland, a 5-7 freshman guard from Durango, to log plenty of minutes either as a wing or point guard, whether that's in the starting five or early off the bench. Wagner has been impressed by how quickly Rowland picked up CMU's complicated offensive sets, but also how hard she plays defensively.
"I'm not 100% sure who's going to be out there come November 3, we're going to gauge it a little more off our scrimmage against Utah Valley (the week before the opening game), but we've got a bunch of girls who can play there right away," Wagner said.
BACK ON THE FLOOR
Five players who missed last season are aiming to stay off the injured list. Along with Hadad, sophomore forward Brooke Slymen, redshirt freshman guards Macy Larsen and Serena Ilelji and redshirt freshman forward Kailey Page are back after watching from the bench a year ago. Slymen played limited minutes in four games last season.
THE FRESHMEN
Five first-year players are getting their first taste of college basketball, three from the Western Slope: guards Joslyn Spires out of Glenwood Springs and Mason Rowland from Durango, and forward Cayden King, who played at Moffat County High School in Craig. Brooke Mansanares signed out of Doherty High School in Colorado Springs, with 6-1 forward Brooke Eyre coming in from Timpview High School in Provo, Utah.
RMAC COACHES SAY...
Colorado Mesa is predicted to place sixth in the conference in preseason voting by the RMAC head coaches. Regis was tabbed No. 1, followed by Colorado School of Mines, CSU Pueblo, Adams State and Black Hills State.
EARLY START
Colorado Mesa is one of several teams getting a jump-start on the season by playing in the D2CCA Tip-Off Classic. The three-day tournament starts Nov. 3 at Langley Event Center in Burnaby, British Columbia, with CMU facing three teams from the Great Northwest Athletic Conference, Central Washington University, Simon Fraser University and the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
SCOUTING THE COMPETITION
Central Washington (1:45 p.m. Friday, Nov. 3)
The Wildcats lost their leading scorer and rebounder to graduation off last season's 21-9 team that lost in the first round of the West Regional, but junior guard Sunny Huerta, who averaged 18.4 points and dished out 97 assists — second to Tori Maeda's 158 — does return.
Maeda is back for her redshirt senior year, and like CMU, Central Washington is young, with only two seniors and two juniors.
The 'Cats will be guard-driven, with only three front-court players on the roster, two freshmen and one sophomore, who transferred in this season.
The Great Northwest Athletic Conference coaches picked Central Washington to finish fifth this season after placing third last season at 12-6 in conference play.
Simon Fraser (5:45 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 4)
The Red Leafs will pose a formidable challenge in the post, with a half-dozen players listed at 6-foot or taller on the roster. They're led by Jessica Wisotzki, a 6-2 guard/forward who averaged 21 points and 4.4 rebounds last season. Wisotzki can also shoot the 3, hitting 56 of 142 last season (39.4%). Gemma Cutler is a 6-2 junior forward who averaged 10.7 points and 8.7 rebounds — with 62 blocked shots — and Sophia Wisotzki is a 5-10 junior guard who averaged 10.2 points last season.
Simon Fraser is picked to finish fourth in the GNAC this season, up two spots from last season's sixth-place finish.
Alaska Fairbanks (11:30 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 5)
The Nanooks, 4-21 last season, return their leading scorer, Emma McKinney, a 5-6 senior guard. McKinney averaged 12.8 points a game as a junior after transferring from junior college. Fairbanks, picked to finish last in the 10-team GNAC, brought in three transfers this season, 5-10 junior forward Tristian Martin, who is from Fairbanks but went to Miami Dade after high school, 5-5 guard Taryn Lindsey from Fountain, Colo., who went to McCook CC in Nebraska, and 6-1 forward Lily Stewart, a graduate transfer from Evergreen State in Washington.
THE COACH
Head coach Taylor Wagner begins his 12th season at the helm of the Mavericks and has been nothing but outstanding. Wagner is 244-77 as CMU's head coach with seven 20-win seasons and two 30-win seasons.
Wagner led the Mavericks to an Elite Eight appearance in 2013, with six NCAA Tournament appearances and four RMAC regular-season and tournament titles.
HOME OPENER
Unlike many seasons, the Mavericks won't be away from Brownson Arena long. CMU is hosing the D2 Conference Challenge on Nov. 10-11, facing a pair of Lone Star Conference teams, West Texas A&M and Texas Permian Basin.
A TRADITION TABLED
After the Conference Challenge, CMU plays Fort Hays State and Colorado Christian in a pair of nonconference games in Lakewood on Nov. 19-20, and then will take the holiday weekend off instead of hosting its traditional Thanksgiving Tipoff Classic. Conference play begins Dec. 1.
