GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. — The first half was offensively "crazy."
The second half was all about defense.
Colorado Mesa made 11 3-pointers in the first half Friday night at Brownson Arena but couldn't shake Fort Lewis, mainly because of the 20 points put up by Lanae Billy. The Mavericks led 50-47 at the break, a score that could have been mistaken as a final some weeks — CMU defeated Black Hills State 53-51 only a week prior.
In the second half, however, CMU's defense took control, led by point guard Kylie Kravig, who did not allow Billy to make a field goal in the second half, only one free throw, in CMU's 87-71 victory in front of a packed "Blizzard in Brownson" crowd of 1,378.
"Great energy, great crowd," CMU coach Taylor Wagner said. "Big game; intensity-wise that first half was crazy. Both teams hit shot after shot and then in the second half I felt like our defense picked up and that's what I was really proud about.
"(Billy) had 20 in the first half and one in the second half, and Kylie did a great job in the second half focusing on her and just making it a little bit more difficult than in the first half."
By hitting 11 of 15 from the 3-point line in the first half against Fort Lewis' zone, CMU shot a sizzling 58.3 percent from the field. The Skyhawks were right behind at an even 50 percent.
With Kravig denying the ball to Billy, the Mavericks opened the third quarter on a 13-2 run, easing the lead to 65-58 by the end of the quarter.
"Billy's a great player, she's tough to guard, but maybe I just needed a little bit of a kick in the butt to get going that second half," Kravig said with a grin.
"I think I did a better job getting through screens so she wouldn't catch it, because she's hard to guard when she does catch it, and being more physical. I think by being more physical she didn't get open as much."
With Olivia Reed on the bench in foul trouble, Claire Heitschmidt went inside for a layup and Kravig hit a pull-up jumper. With the Mavs holding onto a 72-65 lead, Heitschmidt took an inbounds pass at the top of the key and buried a 3 to push the lead to 10. In the final three minutes, guard Mason Rowland came up with two crucial steals against her hometown team, with the Durango freshman first hitting a pull-up jumper, then a driving layup around a pair of free throws by Kravig, who finished with 12 points, five assists and one steal.
Rowland led CMU with 19 points, Laura Gutierrez made a trio of 3s in the first half and five for the game to add 17 points, Josee Steadman made four treys and scored 15 points. Reed, who was swarmed under the basket all night, finished with eight points and 13 rebounds. Every Maverick who attempted a 3-pointer made one — the 15 made were the most this season for CMU and the 87 points tied a season high.
As they have all season, the Mavericks shared the ball, with 22 assists on 25 made baskets.
The Mavericks (15-4, 9-3 RMAC) dominated the glass with 43 rebounds to 20 for Fort Lewis (10-8, 7-5), and CMU had 14 offensive boards as the Mavericks remained undefeated at home (9-0) and beat the Skyhawks for the 11th straight time.
For Rowland, playing against the Skyhawks wasn't different than any other game once play began.
"Obviously I knew we were playing Fort Lewis, but I was like, it's not gonna affect how I play," Rowland said. "I just want to go out and do the best I can for the team. I think the crowd obviously helps. It's great to play here; I love it."
