DENVER — When Taylor Wagner talks about a team win, he can point to Friday night's 62-51 victory over Regis University as a prime example.

With the win, the Mavericks (18-4, 12-3) leapfrogged the Rangers (17-5, 12-4) into second place in the RMAC standings, and more importantly, secured the tie-breaker over Regis by virtue of sweeping the home-and-home series against the defending conference champion.

Less than an hour after the final horn, they found themselves only one-half game out of first place when Black Hills State upset No. 14 Colorado School of Mines 69-61 in Golden to drop the Orediggers to 18-4, 13-3 in RMAC play.

But back to the Mavs' sixth straight win, arguably their biggest road win of the season.

Defense? The Mavericks set the tone from the tip, holding Regis, which entered the game as the top-scoring team in the conference, 24 points below their average. The Rangers scored only three points in the first quarter and 10 in the second. Regis shot only 18.5 percent from the field in the first half and 33.3 percent for the game.

Offense? The Mavs shot 50 percent in the second and fourth quarters and 41.3 percent for the game, hit seven 3-pointers, and used outstanding ball movement to find open shots, with 18 assists on 26 made baskets. Claire Heitschmidt tied her season high with 17 points, burying 5 of 7 from beyond the 3-point line.

Rebounding? Colorado Mesa won that battle, too, 46-32, with 16 on the offensive end. Olivia Reed led that effort with 10 in a relatively quiet offensive night for the sophomore forward, who had six points and two assists.

Bench contribution? Mason Rowland poured in 24 points, hitting key bucket after key bucket, and Lauryn Deede snagged a career-high eight rebounds in 12 ½ minutes in the first half. She added four points, as did Josee Steadman.

CMU took a 14-3 lead after 10 minutes, and Heitschmidt's second 3-pointer of the second quarter came just before the halftime horn for a 33-13 lead. Led by Erin Fry's 12 second-half points, the Rangers were within 10 points with 5:04 remaining, but Colorado Mesa went inside to Reed for back-to-back layups, and the lead remained in double digits until the final minute, when a 3-pointer by Athena Saragoza cut it to 9. The Mavs worked the clock the final four minutes, but Regis chose not to foul down the stretch, and Rowland drove for a layup to close it out with 8 seconds remaining.

The Mavs make the short drive down I-25 to play the other team that's a half-game behind them in the standings, CU-Colorado Springs (15-7. 12-4), to wrap up the weekend road trip. The Mountain Lions handled Westminster on Friday night. CMU won the first meeting with UCCS, so could secure that tie-breaker advantage with another victory.