DENTON, Texas — In the end, Eastern New Mexico's length and defensive pressure took No. 22 Colorado Mesa out of its first-half rhythm and ended the Mavericks' season in a 56-52 loss Friday night (March 14) in the quarterfinals of the South Central Region women's basketball tournament.

"I take my hat off to them, they just got up and pressured us, whether it was on the ball, on the wing, in the post, they were really physical with us," CMU coach Taylor Wagner said.

The Greyhounds (21-9) won its first NCAA playoff game in program history and the Mavericks (25-6) fell to 7-8 in their nine Division II tournament appearances.

In the first half, Olivia Reed Thyne put on a scoring clinic, with 21 points, catching the ball deep in the paint and taking advantage of being played straight-up.

She scored 13 of the Mavericks' 19 first-quarter points, going 6 of 8 from the field, including the Mavs' only 3-pointer of the first half. Reed Thyne, whose junior season ended with 30 double-figure scoring games and 19 double-doubles, scored eight of CMU's 10 second-quarter points, but the Mavericks were down 30-29 at the break.

Mykaela Moore scored six points in the first half, weaving her way through traffic.

"They had really good pressure just all around, so there was a lot of one-on-one, because they would take us out of our plays," Moore said. "So at the end of the day, when they take you out of the play, you've just got to do what you know how to do, right?"

Eastern New Mexico pressured out more in the second half, forcing Reed Thyne to catch the ball farther away from the basket, and she was scoreless in the third quarter as the Greyhounds made a bit of a run.

"Honestly, it was different looks a little bit. They were pressuring a little bit more down low," Reed Thyne said of the Greyhounds' defensive adjustment. "There were more open spaces away from the block, so I shot a few more shots out there, and it just wasn't falling for me tonight."

The Mavericks made only one field goal in 13 attempts in the third quarter, scoring seven of their nine points at the free throw line. The defense gave up only 12 points in the quarter, which allowed them to stay within striking distance, 42-38.

The length of the Greyhounds didn't give the guards room to attack the rim, being forced to either bring the ball back out, or take challenged shots that came up short.

Guard Jayla Smith blocked five shots, all against CMU's guards, helping the Greyhounds build an eight-point lead in the fourth quarter.

Reed Thyne got back in the scoring column with just less than four minutes to play in the game. She converted a second-chance bucket after Riley Hayes snared an offensive rebound and Moore found her for the layup, pulling the Mavericks within six, 50-44.

After an ENMU miss, the Mavs went right back to Reed Thyne for another layup and a foul, and her three-point play had CMU down only three, 50-47, with 3:13 remaining.

Another layup by the two-time RMAC Player of the Year and first-team All-South Central Region forward kept it a three-point game, and she got a steal with 1:43 left on the clock.

Brooklyn Palmer, who controlled the paint with 15 rebounds, 14 on the defensive end, missed a 3-pointer, but Reed grabbed the offensive rebound. Her 15-foot jumper missed and the Mavericks were forced to foul in the final minute.

Other than Smith making a pair, that strategy worked, with Eastern New Mexico missing four in a row, but the Mavs couldn't score on the other end until Moore's 3-pointer with 1.3 seconds to play. Moore's 3 was only the second of the game for CMU, which went 2 of 14 from beyond the arc and shot 33.3 percent overall (20 of 60).

Eastern New Mexico out-rebounded the Mavericks 42-37, with 12 offensive boards leading to eight points. Turnovers, though, were a big problem for CMU, which entered the game second in the nation in turnovers at only 11.4 per game. Friday, though, the Mavs turned it over 15 times, leading to a dozen points for Eastern New Mexico.

Moore finished with 11 points, the only other Maverick in double figures. Seniors Kylie Kravig and Riley Hayes each scored four points, Palmer had three and Lauryn Deede added two.

The Mavericks now turn their attention to the offseason program earlier than they would prefer. Reed Thyne, Moore and sophomore guard Macy Larsen return from the group of seven who logged the majority of minutes, and the Mavs will get sophomore guard Mason Rowland and junior transfer guard Tamryn Blom back from injury.

They'll need to replace the hole left at point guard by Kravig, CMU's all-time assist leader (548), and find front-court help for Reed Thyne to replace Palmer.

"I think it's just building off of what Coach has implemented, and Coach Wagner has just a great program and a strong culture," Reed Thyne said. "I think just getting everyone to buy into it again and buy into what Coach values and what we value as seniors, and just being on the same page about all of our goals and our purposes."

That work for the players will start after spring break as the coaching staff continues to recruit next year's class, but Wagner wasn't quite ready to close the chapter on this season, which saw an 18-game winning streak and back-to-back RMAC championships.

"Good kids, that's the biggest thing, you know, recruiting the right type of kids and kids that want to compete," Wagner said of getting CMU to the NCAA Tournament in eight of his 13 seasons. "And we've got a great team. I love our team, I wouldn't trade them for anyone. They're just awesome people and awesome students. You know, their parents did a great job raising them.

"There's a lot of different things with our team, things you don't see, injuries and some different things like that. But, you know, it's all positive. I know we didn't win the last one, and maybe we didn't play our best, but I think some of the things that we did well this year we can build on.

"The girls coming back, and some of the kids that are in our program that didn't play this year, that were injured, they can see what happened and get better, work on it all spring, summer and fall, and then hopefully we're back in this tournament next year."