Colorado Mesa University Athletics

HONOLULU, Hawaii - Mason Rowland scored 32 points and grabbed 11 rebounds and Colorado Mesa led for all but the opening 13 seconds in a 74-52 win over Alaska Anchorage on Friday (Oct. 30) afternoon at the Clarence T.C. Ching Athletic Center in the first round of the Outrigger Hotels Hoops in Hawaii Tip-off Classic.
 
Rowland did it all for the Mavericks, shooting 10-of-17 from the floor and 12-of-15 at the free-throw line while adding five assists and five steals in 33 minutes.
 
Colorado Mesa set the tone early. Tamryn Blom opened the scoring with a 3-pointer and the Mavericks raced out to a 17-2 lead behind 11 quick points from Rowland, forcing a Seawolves timeout. Rowland had 14 points in the first quarter alone as CMU shot 9-of-14 from the field and 8-of-8 at the line to take a 28-10 lead after one.
 
Alaska Anchorage answered in the second quarter. Trailing 33-13, the Seawolves used a 9-0 run to climb back into it and outscored the Mavericks 19-11 in the period, cutting the deficit to 39-29 at halftime as Colorado Mesa went 0-for-4 at the line.
 
Rowland made sure the comeback went no further. She scored Colorado Mesa's first eight points of the third quarter, including back-to-back floaters, and the Mavericks never let the lead dip below 11 the rest of the way. Blom's 3-pointer and a pair of Jenna Krise free throws in the final seconds sent Colorado Mesa into the fourth up 57-43.
 
The Mavericks pulled away in the final period, holding the Seawolves to 3-of-12 shooting and 0-of-6 from deep. Krise scored five straight points, including an and-one, during an 11-1 stretch, and Colorado Mesa built its largest lead at 74-48 in the final minute.
 
Sedonia Isenbart added 12 points and Krise chipped in 11 for the Mavericks, who went 26-of-32 from the free-throw line compared to 7-of-10 for Alaska Anchorage. Blom finished with nine points, six rebounds and three steals, and Colorado Mesa forced 21 turnovers with 10 steals.
 
Mylee Anderson led the Seawolves with 12 points before fouling out, and Bridgette Tello added 11. Alaska Anchorage shot just 3-of-22 (13.6%) from 3-point range.
 
The Mavericks will advance to the semifinals of the tournament on the top side of the bracket and will now face St. Mary's (Texas) tomorrow afternoon at 8:45 PM MT (4:45 PM HT).