PUEBLO, Colo. — The defense traveled quite well, thank you.
And because Colorado Mesa's defense was up to the task Saturday (Feb. 24) in a 62-47 victory over CSU Pueblo in Massari Arena, the Mavericks are right where they want to be, tied for first place in the RMAC entering the final week of the regular season.
Colorado Mesa, Regis, Adams State and CU-Colorado Springs are all 16-4 in the RMAC, with the Mavs owning the best overall record at 22-5.
The next challenge is a quick turnaround Tuesday night in Salt Lake City against Westminster, then a home game against rival Western Colorado on March 2. Those teams are a combined 5-35 in conference play, but the Mavs needed two overtime periods to beat the Mountaineers in Gunnison earlier.
Regis, which lost twice to CMU in the regular season, and UCCS, which split the home-and-home series against the Mavs, are both at home this weekend against New Mexico Highlands and CSU Pueblo. Adams State, which defeated Mesa in the only meeting between the teams, travels to Colorado School of Mines and MSU Denver to wrap up the regular season.
The top four teams after Saturday's games will host quarterfinal games in the RMAC Tournament, with the highest remaining seed hosting the semifinal and championship games.
Before that, though, the Mavs will need to take care of business to be in position for a conference title, and with their first two-game road sweep in conference play, they took a huge step toward that. Colorado Mesa, which has won four straight, led for all but 1 minute, 2 seconds and nearly shut Alisha Little out in the second half.
The ThunderWolves' 6-foot-1 forward scored 16 of her 20 points in the first half and was held to only four shots in the second half, missing all four. Her four second-half points came at the free throw line. The national leader in double-doubles had 16 rebounds and blocked four shots.
Her counterpart, Olivia Reed, scored eight of her 14 points in the second half, including a dagger 3-pointer with 1:17 to play to put the game out of reach, 60-47.
She had plenty of support, with Sophie Hadad hitting four of six attempts from the 3-point line for 12 points, Mason Rowland added 10, and Josee Steadman buried a trio of treys for nine points.
Nearly every time the ThunderWolves pulled within striking distance, the Mavericks came up with a big shot — they hit 11 of 23 attempts from the 3-point line. One of those was by Kylie Kravig early in the fourth quarter to put the Mavericks up seven, 51-44. The junior point guard finished with seven points and six assists.
Defensively, besides the job they did denying Little the ball in the second half, the Mavericks allowed CSU Pueblo to shoot 34 percent from the field and make only three of 15 3-pointers (20 percent). They held the ThunderWolves scoreless for a crucial six-minute stretch early in the fourth quarter to turn a four-point advantage into a 13-point lead. They forced 17 turnovers and came up with eight steals, three by Rowland and Laura Gutierrez.
