GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. — CSU Pueblo took a page from Colorado Mesa's playbook in the quarterfinals of the RMAC women's tournament Tuesday night to upset the top-seeded Mavericks 66-57 at Brownson Arena.
The ThunderWolves (17-14) played suffocating defense, especially on the perimeter, refusing to let the Mavericks (24-6) get decent looks from the 3-point line. And when the Mavericks tried to drive, the paint was patrolled by Alicia Little and Autumn Watts.
"Congratulations to Pueblo, they came out and played a great defensive game and they did not want their season to end," CMU coach Taylor Wagner said. "They showed it on every possession."
Still, Colorado Mesa was up 14-11 early in the second quarter until Olivia Reed picked up her second foul and was forced to sit the rest of the quarter.
Led by Little, the RMAC leader in scoring and rebounding, CSU Pueblo went on a 20-6 run and led 31-20 at halftime. Little scored 10 points in that decisive span, with the Mavericks unable to keep the 6-foot-2 junior out of the paint.
"When Olivia got in foul trouble in the second quarter, that's when they went on the run," Wagner said. "Then Olivia picked up that fourth foul early in the fourth quarter, they went on that run. She's valuable to us and we needed to be able to step up and fill those shoes, but Pueblo had us everywhere. They were getting to the free throw line, they hit outside shots, and then (Little) scored inside, so they did a great job."
Reed finished with eight points and eight rebounds, but once she picked up her fourth foul in the fourth quarter, she couldn't be as aggressive on defense, and the ThunderWolves took advantage of that.
The Mavs battled back into the game by outscoring the Pack 20-12 in the third quarter. Mesa got the floor spread on offense, which opened up some driving lanes, and in turn, the perimeter.
Laura Gutierrez buried a 3-pointer that bounced high off the rim and dropped back through and Claire Heitschmidt added one from the top of the key. Kylie Kravig drove the lane for a layup and drew a foul for a three-point play, pulling the Mavs within four, 37-33, midway through the quarter. Another Gutierrez 3 with 30 seconds left in the quarter made it a three-point game, 43-40, with 10 minutes to play.
That quarter was won by the Mavs because of their defense, with Reed clamping down on Little in the halfcourt, denying her the ball. Little, who finished with 20 points and 19 rebounds, scored only one point in the third quarter.
Mason Rowland, who led the Mavericks with 18 points, drove for a layup in the opening minute of the fourth quarter and the Mavs were within one, 43-42.
Pueblo, though, got back-to-back buckets from Romola Dominguez and eventually eased the lead back to 10 points with 5:34 to play, and the Mavericks couldn't get enough shots to fall to make another run.
Gutierrez got it within five when she buried a 3-pointer and drew a foul, making the bonus, but only 1:38 remained in the game. The Mavs' lone senior finished with 15 points in her final game at Brownson Arena.
For the game, the Mavericks made only five of 25 attempts from the 3-point line and finished the game shooting only 31.4 percent and took their first loss of the season at home.
"Every loss we've had, that's about what we've got in a game," Wagner said. "When we had open looks, you've got to be able to stick it, and we didn't do that. But when you play in a tournament, that's the defense you need, that's what advances you and we did not show up with that."
The ThunderWolves put four players in double figures, outscored CMU 34-16 in the paint, had 16 second-half points to the Mavs' eight, and scored 18 points off 13 Mesa turnovers.
Instead of hosting the rest of the RMAC Tournament, which will now be played at Regis, the Mavericks will get back in the gym to prepare for the NCAA South Central Regionals. CMU was ranked No. 2 in the region last week — another set of rankings will be released Wednesday, but will not include Tuesday's results.
Regional bids will be announced Sunday, March 10 on ncaa.com.
"It's not over yet. I want to see how this team responds," Wagner said. "There's still another championship to win. It's razor thin who can advance to the Elite Eight and we're one of those teams that I think can do that.
"It's valuable time for a team to be able to play in the regional and be in those playoff situations. That's what this team needs. We're a young team, Laura's the only senior, so it's important that these girls get that experience for future years."
