GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. — A 12-0 scoring run in the fourth quarter allowed the Colorado Mesa women's basketball team to finally shake South Dakota Mines and pull away for a 71-58 RMAC victory Saturday (Jan. 20) at Brownson Arena.
Once the Mavericks shook their defensive doldrums, the offense finally opened up, leading to the put-away run in the final 6½ minutes of the game.
Holding a 58-53 lead after the Hardrockers' Piper Bauer hit a second-chance bucket inside with 6:32 to play, Sophie Hadad came up with a steal and Josee Steadman hit a trailing 3-pointer. She followed that with another 3, Mason Rowland made four consecutive free throws and Steadman added a midrange jumper for a 70-53 lead with 1:37 remaining.
That scoring spree was triggered by the defense, which did a better job in the fourth quarter of challenging shots and being in the proper spots to help slow the Hardrockers' cuts to the basket.
"It was a little bit of everything," CMU coach Taylor Wagner said of the Mavericks' defensive struggles, especially in the first half. "I felt like we came out flat and that affected how our offense wasn't flowing like it usually does and unfortunately that didn't help the defense. We were confused on certain things on how we wanted to guard it and there were a couple times we got matched up differently. A little bit of everything on that defensive side except the last five, six minutes (when) I thought we were pretty good."
Up only one at halftime, 29-28, the Mavericks (14-4, 8-3 RMAC) had turned the ball over seven times, five in the first 10 minutes, but had only one the entire second half. And led by Kylie Kravig, who had three of her four steals in the second half, the Mavericks finished with eight steals, forcing 12 turnovers and converting them into 18 points, 12 in the second half.
Kravig had one of her best all-around games of the season, attacking the rim early when the Hardrockers were double-teaming Olivia Reed in the post and pushing out on Hadad and Laura Gutierrez, which opened a driving lane for the junior point guard.
"They take the post away a lot and they weren't helping off Liv and they also weren't helping off Sophie and Laura because they're good 3-point shooters, so you just have to read the help defense," Kravig said. "We talked a lot in practice this week about having to hit shots because Liv was getting so much pressure down low that they were going to be open, so I think that focus point in practice translated to today."
Kravig finished with 15 points, seven assists, four steals and only one turnover, playing all but 3½ minutes.
Reed had 16 points and seven rebounds, blocked three shots, had one steal and three assists. Rowland also chipped in 15 points, including going 6 for 6 from the free-throw line in a game that saw the teams combine to shoot only 22 free throws. The Mavericks made 9 of 12, South Dakota Mines (4-13, 4-7 RMAC) 7 of 10, but didn't get to the line in the final quarter, when CMU made 7 of 8.
Transition scoring was key for the Mavericks, who outscored South Dakota Mines 11-0 on fastbreak opportunities.
Steadman scored eight of her 10 points in the second half to help the Mavericks remain undefeated at home (8-0) heading into their key home matchup on Friday (Jan. 26) against Fort Lewis in the annual Blizzard in Brownson.
The weekend sweep helped Mesa move into a tie for third place in the conference behind Colorado School of Mines (10-1) and Regis (9-2). The Mavericks are tied with Adams State, with Fort Lewis 7-4.
