GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. — The top two scoring teams in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference meet Thursday evening at Regis Fieldhouse when Colorado Mesa (5-2, 1-1 RMAC) faces the Rangers (4-4, 2-0 RMAC).
Regis averages 73.8 points a game, the Mavericks 72.
On Saturday afternoon, the Mavericks wrap up conference play in 2024 against Colorado School of Mines (2-7, 0-2 RMAC) in Golden, but they have two nonconference games before the holiday break.
On Dec. 19-20, they travel to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., to play Northwest Missouri State and Pittsburg State (Kan.) at Nova Southeastern. Both of those games will tip off at 10 a.m. (MST). Pittsburg State is ranked No. 8 by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association and No. 10 in the D2 College Sports Communicators rankings.
It's also a matchup of two of the top point guards in the conference, CMU's Kylie Kravig and the Rangers' Erin Fry. Kravig leads the conference in assists, averaging 7.6 per game, with Fry second at 7.0. They're also 1-2 in assist-to-turnover ratio, with Kravig at 2.7 (53 assists, 20 turnovers) and Fry 2.2 (56 assists, 26 turnovers). Fry has moved into the No. 2 spot in the conference at scoring at 21.8 points per game, with Kravig's 11.7 points per game ranking her 21st.
Fry has been the RMAC Offensive Player of the Week two of the past three weeks.
ABOUT LAST WEEK
The Mavericks split their opening weekend of conference play, losing 65-56 to CU-Colorado Springs on Thursday night before defeating Colorado Christian 78-55 on Saturday afternoon.
Against the Mountain Lions, the Mavericks shot only 35.6% from the field and were scoreless for the final 5:45 of the game, allowing UCCS to erase a three-point deficit into the nine-point victory.
Olivia Reed Thyne led CMU with 18 points and six rebounds, Macy Larsen scored a then career-high 14 points, with Riley Hayes scoring 13 points and Kylie Kravig 11. They were the only players to score for the Mavericks.
After a day to prepare for Colorado Christian, the Mavericks took the lead for good with 6:49 remaining in the first quarter and outscored the Cougars 20-5 in the opening 10 minutes. All five starters scored in double figures, with Larsen, in her first collegiate start, putting up a career-high 22.
Brooklyn Palmer had 15 points, Kravig had a double-double with 13 points and 10 assists, Reed Thyne had 11 points and 13 rebounds, her 25th career double-double, and Hayes added 10 points.
CMU scored 16 second-chance points to only two by the Cougars and outscored CCU 30-16 in the paint.
LINEUP SHIFT
It's rare for CMU coach Taylor Wagner to alter his starting five after it's determined in preseason practices, but that hasn't been the case this season.
The Mavs have had three different starting lineups in their first seven games.
Mason Rowland's injury in the third game of the season necessitated moving senior Riley Hayes, a transfer from Arkansas-Fort Smith, into the lineup at shooting guard the past four games. Hayes has scored in double figures in each of the past six games.
Saturday, Wagner inserted redshirt sophomore Macy Larsen into the other wing spot and senior Brooklyn Palmer, who transferred to CMU from Texas-Tyler, started alongside Olivia Reed Thyne in the frontcourt.
All five starters scored in double figures in Saturday's victory.
Sedonia Isenbart, a 5-foot-8 freshman guard from Stratton who was slated to redshirt, was elevated to the active roster this week and will suit up for her first collegiate game on Thursday.
NUMBERS GAME
With a 12.3-point margin of victory, the Mavericks lead the conference in that stat, more than three times better than any other conference team. Black Hills State has a plus-4.0 margin of victory; Regis is at plus-1.3 and Colorado School of Mines is at minus-9.4.
Defensively, the Mavs allow teams to score only 58.7 points a game, but Regis gives up 72.5 points to its opponents, the Orediggers 74.2.
SCOUTING THE RANGERS
The season has been one of back-to-backs for the Rangers. They've been swept in back-to-back games every other weekend, and have swept both games in the opposite weekends. They dropped both games in their South Central Regional Crossover in Austin, Texas, losing to St. Edward's and St. Mary's, before beating Point Loma and Biola on a trip to California.
That weekend was followed by losses to nationally ranked Fort Hays State and Minnesota State-Mankato to wrap up nonconference play.
Regis opened the RMAC season on the road, beating New Mexico Highlands and Fort Lewis.
Athena Saragoza reached 1,000 points for her career earlier this season and averages 17.6 points a game. Fry leads Regis with a 21.8-points-per-game average and also has 14 steals.
Saragoza has a dozen steals and has made 28 of 76 attempts from the 3-point line (36.8%) and shoots nearly 40% from the field. Fry is another 3-point threat, with 19 this season, and is shooting 34.3% from the field.
Keeping Fry off the free throw line will be crucial to success — in only eight games, she's shot 80 free throws, making 63.
SCOUTING THE OREDIGGERS
Colorado School of Mines played a brutal stretch of four straight games against ranked opponents just before conference play began, going 1-3 after splitting its conference challenge to open the season.
Three straight losses followed, including to Montana State Billings, ranked No. 6 at the time, and then-No. 1 Texas Woman's, last season's national runner-up.
In their home opener, the Orediggers upset then-No. 9 and defending national champion Minnesota State-Mankato 92-88 behind a 34-point night from Jenna Siebert, before falling to Fort Hays State, which was No. 12 at the time. Their struggles continued last week, losing at Adams State and in overtime at New Mexico Highlands.
Siebert is one of three Orediggers scoring in double figures at 16.2, with Emma Sixta at 11.1 and Josephine Howery 10.9.
Turnovers have been an issue, with Mines committing 19.7 per game, six more than its opponents, and giving up 22 points off turnovers.
THE COACHES
Taylor Wagner is in his 13th season in charge of the CMU women's program, with a 274-86 record (.761). In RMAC play, he has a 203-59 mark (.775). He's the second-longest tenured coach in program history and is also second in wins, behind Steve Kirkham, who won 299 games in 16 seasons (1988-2004). Wagner took the Mavericks to the Division II Elite Eight in his first season, has won or shared in six conference regular-season championships, two RMAC Tournament titles, earned seven regional tournament bids and six RMAC Coach of the Year awards, including 2023-24.
Molly Marrin is in her 10th season at Regis, with a 160-104 record entering Thursday's game. The Regis graduate is the fifth head coach in program history, taking over in the 2015-16 season. She earned four letters with the Rangers, was a first-team All-RMAC player and was a two-time RMAC All-Tournament selection.
Marrin previously was an assistant coach at the University of Denver, the University of San Francisco and Northern Colorado.
Brittany Simpson is in her 13th season as the head coach at Colorado School of Mines, with a 221-130 record. The Colorado Mesa graduate (Brittany Rowley, 2002-06) was a two-time team captain of the Mavericks, a two-time All-RMAC guard. She earned six RMAC All-Academic awards.
Simpson, who earned her degree in business administration at then-Mesa State College, was an assistant at Mines from 2008-12 and prior to that was a graduate assistant at CU-Colorado Springs, where she earned her MBA in 2007.
DYK?
Redshirt sophomore forward Kailey Page's brother, Jalen, is a forward on the Regis men's team. Jalen Page transferred to Regis this year as a graduate student after playing at Northern Colorado.
