CHADRON, Neb. — A determined second-half defensive effort allowed Colorado Mesa to outscore Chadron State 30-8 in the third quarter here Friday evening (Jan. 12) on the way to a 70-49 RMAC victory.

The Mavericks trailed 32-30 at halftime, but gave up only 17 points in the second half to improve to 12-3, 6-2 in conference play. After allowing the Eagles (4-9, 2-6 RMAC) to get to the rim for easy layups, especially in the second quarter, Mesa's defense clamped down after halftime.

Chadron State, which shot 61.5 percent from the field and hit three of four 3-point attempts in the second quarter, shot 25 percent (2 of 8) in the third quarter and only 18 percent (2 of 11) in the fourth. Conversely, CMU hit 12 of 16 shots in the third quarter (75 percent), and six of eight from long distance to build the lead to 20 points, 60-40.

Olivia Reed dominated in the paint with 28 points, taking advantage of the Eagles playing her straight up and not double-teaming her, pinning her defender and taking entry passes for open layups. She scored nine points in each of the first and third quarters and finished with nine rebounds, four assists, three steals and two blocks.

Contesting shots and cutting off driving lanes in the third quarter on defense, the Mavs went to Reed for two early buckets around a jumper from Laura Gutierrez. Reed's second basket of the quarter gave the Mavericks the lead for good, 36-34, and Kylie Kravig followed with a 3-pointer.

A 17-3 run in the opening five minutes of the quarter put CMU up 47-35 on a 3-pointer by Claire Heitschmidt, the third straight 3-pointer CMU hit in the opening run. Mason Rowland pulled up for a 3 after a steal by Reed to follow Kravig's trey.

Gutierrez buried back-to-back 3-pointers and Rowland cut inside for a layup off a pocket pass from Reed as CMU built the lead to 21 points, 60-39, with 1:25 left in the quarter.

The 30 points are the most CMU has scored in a quarter this season — the Mavs put up 27 points in the third quarter against Colorado School of Mines in a double-overtime loss.

For the game, Gutierrez finished with 12 points and Heitschmidt 11. The Mavericks shot 46.4 percent from the field, and thanks to their second-half defense, held the Eagles to 34.8 percent. Mesa scored 21 points off 17 Chadron State turnovers and turned the ball over only eight times despite the Eagles applying some light full-court pressure.

Kravig, who leads the RMAC in assists, finished with 10 and had only two turnovers — as a team, the Mavericks found the open shooter, with 22 assists on 26 made baskets.

The victory moved CMU into a tie for second place in the RMAC after Regis defeated Adams State. Those three teams are all 6-2 in conference play, trailing Colorado School of Mines, which is 8-0 after defeating CSU Pueblo. The Mavericks play at Colorado Christian in Lakewood on Saturday night (Jan. 13), looking to stay undefeated in 2024.