SALT LAKE CITY, Utah — All alone at the top.
That's where the Colorado Mesa women's basketball team wanted to be at the end of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference season, and that's where the Mavericks are guaranteed to finish, with one game still to play.
The Mavericks' 76-51 runaway victory over Westminster on Thursday, CMU's 15th straight win, secured the outright RMAC championship with one game to play, at home Saturday against second-place Western Colorado.
"That sounds great," CMU coach Taylor Wagner said on his post-game radio show when asked how 'champions' sounded. "The girls have worked really hard. It's hard to win on the road and I'm happy that the girls were able to accomplish their goal."
After a slow start — turnovers on their first three possessions — the Mavericks (22-4, 17-2 RMAC) went to their All-American forward, and Olivia Reed Thyne delivered. The junior scored 12 of her 26 points in the first quarter, and also had six rebounds, three assists and a steal in the opening 10 minutes as the Mavs built a 22-10 lead.
The Griffins tried to deny her the ball, but that didn't stop her, pinning and spinning to the basket. They tried to bring backside help, but she powered through the double-team, or found a cutting guard for open layups. When they played behind her, she took the ball on the right block and drove to the opposite block for left-handed layups.
"We found Olivia and I think she did a great job in the paint, especially early on in that first quarter," Wagner said.
Reed Thyne also pulled down 15 rebounds and had six assists. She was 10 of 15 from the field, and CMU scored 22 points in each of the first two quarters, building a 44-24 lead. Despite turning the ball over 14 times, the Mavericks shot the ball exceptionally well, 52.6 percent, and made 11 of 12 free throws.
Riley Hayes hit three 3-pointers and finished with 11 points, Mykaela Moore drove for a dozen points and five assists, and Kylie Kravig had 11 points, five rebounds and six assists.
Macy Larsen chipped in six points off the bench, and senior Lauryn Deede, playing close to her home of Springville, Utah, had five, including hitting the first 3-pointer of her career. Sophomore forward Brooke Eyre also hit the first 3 of her career. Colorado Mesa's biggest lead was 32 points early in the fourth quarter.
The Mavericks, ranked No. 23 in the D2CSC national rankings and No. 25 in the WBCA coaches poll, are still undefeated since the calendar flipped to 2025. They wrapped up the road portion of the regular season 10-1 and will look to match that at Brownson against the Mountaineers, who are on a seven-game winning streak.
CSU Pueblo and CU-Colorado Springs clinched playoff berths on Thursday, with three teams still in the mix for the final two spots, all needing to win on Saturday. New Mexico Highlands, Regis and Colorado School of Mines are all 10-9 in conference play. Regis plays at UCCS, Mines is at CSU Pueblo and Highlands is at Black Hills State.
The Mavericks will host the No. 8 seed on Tuesday at Brownson, with game times to be determined after Saturday's games.
The conference title is the 12th for the Mavericks, the most of any team in the RMAC, and they've won six tournament championships. Their seventh would earn the automatic bid into the South Central Region Tournament — CMU is currently ranked No. 4 in the region, with eight teams qualifying.
But first things first: Western Colorado on Senior Day.
"They're a great team and if we don't show up, they'll pound us," Wagner said. "I like how they're playing. They're tough, they're physical, they guard, very efficient on offense, so we've got to come out and go. I don't want to go backwards, so for me and my mindset going in, why would we let the seniors down on their night?"
CMU finished Thursday's game with 24 assists on 30 made baskets, had seven steals, outscored Westminster (6-22, 5-15) 46-24 in the paint and scored 19 points off 14 Griffins turnovers.
Colorado Mesa started the conference season 1-2, but has won 16 consecutive conference games and 17 of its past 18 overall.
"Early on we had a couple of turnovers, then we kind of figured out what they were doing and how aggressive they were and I give all the credit to the girls. They've got to make plays, and they've been doing that for I don't know where we're at, four months, five months. I'm really happy for them because it's hard what they did, and we've been beat up," Wagner said.
"We've lost a lot of players and for them to do what they've done to this point, I take my hat off to them, because a lot of teams would have folded."
