WEEK IN REVIEW
For the first time this season, the Colorado Mesa women's basketball team swept the road weekend from their opponents as they defeated both Colorado School of Mines and MSU Denver last weekend on the Front Range.
Against No. 12 Colorado School of Mines, Colorado Mesa closed out the game on a 13-3 run to take down the Orediggers 59-52 in Lockridge Arena. They limited Mines to just 28.6 percent shooting from the field.
It was the first time this season that the Mavericks defeated a WBCA top-25 team in four chances.
Olivia Reed led the Mavericks in scoring with 15 points and added 11 rebounds for the double-double. Monica Brooks, Kylie Kravig, and Laura Gutierrez all finished in double figures.
On Saturday against MSU Denver, the Mavericks shot over 40 percent from the floor and over 71 percent from the line to claim a 65-60 win over the Roadrunners to avenge that early season loss at home.
It was the first time this season that the Mavericks won a game after being outrebounded.
Tia Slade scored a career-high 22 points to lead the Mavericks while Monica Brooks added 15 points.
CAREER NIGHT
Sophomore Tia Slade has continued to get more comfortable in the system nearing the end of her sophomore season. She may have single handily helped keep the Mavericks in the RMAC Tournament hunt with her performance against MSU Denver.
The Highlands Ranch native scored a career-high 22 points and made 4-of-6 from beyond the arc to help the team shoot over 40 percent from the field.
FOUR-FOR-FOUR
The Mavericks moved to 4-0 this season when they have four players score in double figures. The wins over Fort Lewis during the Holiday Inn Thanksgiving Classic, New Mexico Highlands, Chadron State and No. 12 Colorado School of Mines all had four Mavericks in double digits.
Anytime they have had less then that the trends dip for them. They are just 2-9 when they have one or two scorers reach double figures.
A sign of good ball distribution and many scorers should lead the Mavericks to wins down the stretch.
GETTING TO THE LINE
Colorado Mesa has steadily improved their free-throw shooting over the season. After the first few weeks of the season they were in the low 60's in terms of percentages from the line now heading down to the final four games of the season, they are among the conference's best at 71.1 percent which is No. 3 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference.
In their last three games, they have attempted an average of 26 free-throws a game and have made an average of 74 percent of those attempts. They shot a season-high 34 free-throws in the win over No. 12 Colorado School of Mines
LOOKING BACK
There is no denying the struggles the Mavericks had early in the season. With nearly the entire roster turned over with the departure of the large senior class so many freshman and new faces were going to have to be relied upon.
Since December 17 though, Colorado Mesa is 9-5 and are heading into the most important stretch of the season on a three-game winning streak with three of their final four games at home where they are 5-5 this season.
LOOKING AHEAD
As we stand today (Wednesday), the Mavericks are guaranteed only nine more days of basketball. They hope to make it a few more than that.......at minimum. They will have another odd week next week as they will play a home/road split on back-to-back days after a scheduling snafu.
They will host Westminster on Wednesday evening in Brownson Arena for the final regular season home game of the season before heading on the road Thursday for a matchup with Western Colorado in Gunnison on Thursday evening.
With wins in at least three of their next four games, they should be assured of a spot in the RMAC Tournament with a road game on Tuesday February 28.
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.
Brooks will be honored following the game on Saturday evening prior to the the midweek home finale.
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.
