GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. — Shots haven't been falling as often as Laura Gutierrez would like this season.

Until Saturday, that is.

The senior guard poured in a season-high 18 points and in the first half, she outscored New Mexico Highlands by herself, 15-12, on the way to Colorado Mesa's 70-34 runaway victory at Brownson Arena. It was the Mavericks' 19th straight victory over the Cowgirls.

"Finally," Gutierrez said with a grin. "I think it just led from our defense in the first half especially. We were active, we were helping each other out, and like Coach said, it came from passing; we were sharing the ball really well and it was defense to offense, really."
The Mavericks (11-3, 5-2 RMAC) raced to a 19-0 lead, with Gutierrez hitting the first shot she took, a second-chance 3-pointer, that opened the floodgates for the senior from Rio Rancho, N.M.

"I guess, a little bit," she said when asked if beating a team from her home state was a little more special. "But I'm just really focused on winning this season. I'm a senior, and that's all I want to do."

It was 25-8 at the end of the first quarter, with CMU shooting an even 50% from the field, along with netting five of its first 11 attempts from the 3-point line.

With a 15-4 second quarter, the Mavericks were comfortably in front at halftime, 40-12, but didn't let up. They pushed the lead to 40 points, 63-23, when Lauryn Deede hit a short jumper with 7:25 to play.

Wagner, who wants to expand the bench minutes for the stretch run, emptied the bench, with freshmen Serena Ileleji, Cayden King, Brooke Eyre and Joslyn Spires, along with sophomore Brooke Slymen, getting extended minutes — it was Ileleji's first game after she missed all of last season with an injury.

The young Mavericks held their own against Highlands' regulars, being outscored only 11-7 down the stretch.

"They did a great job. After the first couple of possessions they settled down and then defensively they got a couple steals and made them take tough shots, came up with big rebounds," Wagner said. "In practice they'll have their days when they battle everybody else so it was good to see them get rewarded and get out there and play. Hopefully we'll get a few more of those, too; they're good players."

Eyre scored the first points of her collegiate career, had two rebounds and an assist.

With the Cowgirls (4-9, 3-5 RMAC) concentrating on keeping Olivia Reed in check (she finished with eight points and eight rebounds), the rest of the Mavericks chipped in on the offensive end.

Mason Rowland finished with 15 points, six rebounds and three assists, along with a pair of steals, Kylie Kravig had eight points and Sophie Hadad six.

For the game, the Mavericks shot 46% from the field, 44% from the 3-point line and made eight of 11 free throws.

Defensively, Wagner was pleased with the Mavs' effort all weekend — they allowed Highlands to shoot only 25.9% from the field, a season low for an opponent, and the Cowgirls made only three 3-pointers in 21 attempts.

"The first three quarters were under 10 points, so it was phenomenal," Wagner said. "I think the fourth was 13 and that's still a good quarter. Our goal was to be under 50, and I thought we were engaged for the most part. There were a couple of plays that got away from us but overall I was really pleased with our defense, today and (Friday)."