GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. — Three Colorado Mesa players are among 16 returning All-RMAC performers on the conference "Players to Watch" list released Tuesday.
Reigning RMAC Player of the Year Olivia Reed tops the list, along with last season's Freshman of the Year Mason Rowland and senior point guard Kylie Kravig.
The 20-player watch list features first- or second-team selections on last year's all-conference team, plus the top player on teams without an all-conference returner.
Reed's sophomore year was one for the books, when she averaged 17.2 points and 11.3 rebounds a game with a 57.8% shooting percentage. She was not only the conference Player of the Year, but the Academic Player of the Year, a first team All-South Central Region selection, a WBCA honorable mention All-America and a made the CSC third team Academic All-America list. She had 12 double-doubles and scored 30 points in five different games, including a 30-point, 24-rebound performance. She's started every game of her career.
Rowland, who came off the bench in every game last season, will join the starting lineup at shooting guard when the season tips off Friday. The sophomore made the RMAC second team after averaging 14.6 points per game, which was 11th in the conference. She scored in double figures in 23 games, with a career-high 30 against CSU Pueblo.
Kravig has started 62 games, 61 consecutive, with a 38-24 record as a starter. She led the RMAC in assists as a junior with with 180, an average of 5.6 per game, and had a 2.0 assist-to-turnover ratio, second in the conference. She played an average of 34.5 minutes, scoring 7.6 points per game and was on the All-RMAC second team.
Colorado Mesa, coming off a 25-7 season and a share of the RMAC regular-season championship, is picked to win the conference again this season. The Mavericks are ranked No. 21 in the WBCA preseason poll and No. 3 in the preseason D2CSC South Central Region rankings. The D2CSC national poll is expected to be released later Tuesday.
The Mavericks return four starters (Reed, Kravig, Sophie Hadad, Claire Heitschmidt) and tip off the season against West Texas A&M at 1:30 p.m. on Friday in the D2 Conference Challenge in Odessa, Texas. At 4:30 p.m. Saturday, CMU takes on host Texas Permian Basin.
The home opener is at 6 p.m. on Nov. 20 in a nonconference game against CSU Pueblo.
