GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. — Midway through the first quarter of the D2 Conference Challenge, the Colorado Mesa women's basketball team's front line needed a spark.
Enter Josee Steadman and Lauryn Deede. The two forwards got physical with the bigs from West Texas A&M and a couple of backscreens freed Deede up for layups, Steadman hit a second-chance 3-pointer, and the Mavericks, after pulling within five points at the end of the first quarter, caught fire in the second on the way to a 70-51 victory to remain undefeated on the young season.
"Lauryn is pure toughness," CMU coach Taylor Wagner said. "That's what we needed. At that point, I thought we were a little soft and she just came in and gave us a boost on the defensive side and she had a couple of buckets that she made or got fouled on, and that's her. That's what we needed her to do. We just talked about it in the locker room, she's the one that sparked our team."
Colorado Mesa is 4-0 for the second time in the past three years, and in both of those seasons the Mavericks defeated West Texas A&M, a team they've met nine times, including twice in the NCAA Tournament.
When starter Olivia Reed re-entered the game, she made some adjustments against the Buffs' 6-foot-4 Nyalam Thabach and scored 21 of her game-high 23 points over the final three quarters. The Mavericks' 6-foot sophomore forward recorded her fourth double-double of the season, adding 11 rebounds, and despite giving up a few inches to Thabach, finished with only two fouls and blocked three shots.
"When I subbed out, Coach P (Hannah Pollart) talked me through adjustments and how to get different looks and what is working and what's not working," Reed said. "She's a tall girl so I was just figuring out what wasn't working and then going with a different option."
Freshman guard Mason Rowland came off the bench to score 22 points and locked down on defense against Karley Motschenbacher, who was coming off a 20-point performance against preseason No. 12 Azusa Pacific, but finished with only four points, hitting two of four shots from the field.
"Put Mason on her," Wagner said of the game plan against the Buffs' shooting guard. "Mason is just athletic and moves well and has a good basketball IQ and I thought she matched up well with her."
Deede, who turned an ankle in the second quarter and didn't return to the game, finished with five points and five rebounds in only 8:33 of game time.
Colorado Mesa outscored West Texas A&M 24-7 in the second quarter, finishing the quarter on an 11-0 run in the final 2:31 to lead 35-23 at the break.
West Texas was scoreless for the final 3:34 of the second quarter.
The rest of the scoring for the Mavericks was spread out, and once again, Mesa's bench outscored the opponents, 32-16. For the game, CMU shot 41.4% from the field, and shot 50% in the second half. The Buffs (1-2) shot 34% and were led by Thabach's 13 points, She had 10 rebounds and blocked four shots.
After turning a 5-point deficit into a 12-point halftime lead, the Mavericks didn't let down, outscoring the Buffs 20-11 in the third quarter and building the lead to as many as 24 points.
Led by Reed's 11 rebounds, CMU had a 41-31 advantage on the boards, and scored 14 second-chance points.
Colorado Mesa faces Texas Permian Basin at 6:30 tonight — the Falcons rallied for a 60-55 victory over South Dakota Mines in the opening game of the challenge. Wagner wants to see the toughness factor show up every night.
"For the first home game of the year, I thought they played phenomenal," Wagner said. "First quarter they were a little shaky but the second, third quarter, they were just Maverick tough, and I hope that's our identity for the rest of the year, because they just got after it defensively and came up with big plays."
