GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. — Add another number on the banner.
The Colorado Mesa women's basketball team clinched at least a share of its 12th Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference regular-season championship Saturday with a rugged 77-74 victory over third-place Black Hills State at Brownson Arena.
One more victory will give the Mavericks (21-4, 16-2 RMAC) the outright conference title and the No. 1 seed in the RMAC Tournament next month. CMU plays at Westminster (6-19, 5-13) on Thursday night before wrapping up the regular season at home Saturday afternoon against second-place Western Colorado.
"I honestly don't even know where we're at with the win streak," CMU coach Taylor Wagner said. "The biggest thing is winning. If we won tonight, we knew we got a share of the title. That was first and foremost. These girls have been preparing since August for this, and some even a little bit earlier than that. So it was one thing that we wanted to be able to do, get it on our home floor, but we've got two more regular season games. There's a lot to play for and get momentum going into the RMAC Tournament."
The victory, No. 21 on the season and No. 14 in the current winning streak, wasn't secured until Mykaela Moore netted a pair of free throws with three seconds remaining, forcing the Yellow Jackets to attempt a half-court 3-point attempt that fell well short.
"Typical CMU-Black Hills game, it comes right down to the wire," Wagner said. "I think we're similar teams in how we play and I thought they competed really hard. That first half, they gave us a run for our money and then right there at the end, too, they came up with some big plays to extend the game. But I'm proud of our girls; we made enough plays there at the end to get the victory."
In keeping with a typical CMU-Black Hills game, there were 12 ties, 12 lead changes and neither team led by more than seven points. That was the Mavericks' largest lead, and didn't come until the 4:50 mark of the fourth quarter.
With the post players bullying one another the entire game, 58 points were scored in the paint, 21 by Olivia Reed Thyne, 16 by Brooklyn Palmer and 17 by Black Hills' post Haylee Weathersby. Palmer and Weathersby battled the entire game, and Palmer played the final 4:21 after picking up her fourth foul.
"She's a really good player, and she's physical and she's tough, and that's a tough guard," Palmer said. "I always love a challenge, and so going in knowing I just had to be smart. I watched a lot of film before just seeing where she ducks and where she gets her seals and everything. I tried to just use that and use what I learned, and then also just trying to be active on defense. I didn't do it the whole game, but, just being active, and I think that works better than just being stagnant."
The Yellow Jackets double-teamed Reed Thyne in the post, and even brought help when she got the ball on the low block, but she found open shooters, coming up with six assists.
Palmer was one recipient, hitting a season-high four 3-pointers. Moore made hard cuts through the lane for passes and layups, finishing with 14 points, and Macy Larsen had 13 points off the bench.
The scout on Larsen is as a 3-point shooter, so she tried to change things up, getting her defender thinking she was going to shoot from the perimeter, then putting the ball on the floor and driving.
"I noticed that they knew scout on our starters, and so I realized, coming off the bench, I have to do something different and kind of surprise them," said Larsen. "So not just shooting the 3 like I always do, but driving to the basket, doing other things like that."
It was a two-point game early in the fourth quarter, but Larsen hit a 3-pointer go put CMU up 62-57 with 6:18 to play. Riley Hayes, who was held without a 3-pointer for the first time this season, made a driving layup and Reed Thyne muscled inside for a layup and a 66-59 advantage with 4:50 remaining.
Four straight points by Black Hills whittled the lead back to three with 3:10 on the clock.
The Mavericks were trying to run clock in the final two minutes, but Black Hills stopped the clock with fouls, eventually getting CMU to the free throw line, where the Mavs made nine of 10 in the final 34 seconds to hang onto the lead.
"It was tough, because they were getting what they wanted and I felt like we got what we wanted," Wagner said. "It kind of went back and forth a little bit. I thought it'd be more like our first game, where it was more of a defensive game, but it seemed like it was more offense and who can attack the rim. We both went to the free throw line a lot. I think both teams were really similar, and we tried to take some of their stuff away, but they were getting what they wanted at times."
In the end, the Mavericks got what they wanted — another title.
"I'm super happy to be a Maverick," said Palmer, who transferred to CMU from Texas-Tyler this season. "I mean, I came here to win, and we're gonna do that, and we're doing it now. We're gonna keep doing it. I just am super grateful for this opportunity to be here and to be a Maverick and be with this team. And you know, we're about to finish conference next week, but it's just the beginning for us."
