THE WEEK IN REVIEW
No. 2 Colorado Mesa went 3-0 at the Clarence T.C. Ching Athletic Center in Honolulu to win the Outrigger Hotels Hoops in Hawaii Tip Off Classic.

Oct. 30: Colorado Mesa 74, Alaska Anchorage 52
The Mavericks scored 28 points in the first quarter and led wire to wire. Mason Rowland opened her senior season with 32 points, 11 rebounds, five assists and five steals. Sedonia Isenbart added 12 off the bench, Jenna Krise had 11, and Tamryn Blom hit 3 of 4 from deep for nine. Mesa made 26 of 32 free throws.

Oct. 31: Colorado Mesa 62, St. Mary's (Texas) 53
Mesa scored the game's first 17 points and led by 19 after one quarter. St. Mary's hit 5 of 8 threes in the third to tie it heading into the fourth. Rowland answered with a go-ahead three off a Blom offensive rebound, the defense held the Rattlers without a field goal for more than six minutes, and Rowland scored 13 of her 28 points in the fourth quarter. Blom grabbed a career high 15 rebounds as Mesa won the glass 50 to 26.

Nov. 1: Colorado Mesa 64, Winona State 57 (Championship)
Winona State scored the first seven points before a 10 point Mesa run flipped the game. The Warriors briefly led in the third, but Mesa led by four entering the fourth. With the lead down to one, Isenbart hit three triples and a jumper in under four minutes. She finished with a career high 23, Rowland added 25 and 11 rebounds, and Mesa made 19 of 20 free throws.

KNOW YOUR FOE
The Texas Permian Basin Falcons will have a quick opening game on Monday against Arlington Baptist in Odessa before getting on the road to Grand Junction. The Falcons will play both Colorado Mesa and MSU Denver on their home courts in this year's version of the D2 Conference Challenge event. 

UTPB was picked to finish ninth in the 17 team conference after finishing the 2025-26 season with a 15-14 record. They qualified for the Lone Star Conference Tournament but their season ended at the hands of top-ranked Texas Woman's in the opening round. 

The Falcons are led early in the season by Mikalah Buckley who had 23 points in their season opening win against Arlington Baptist. The St. Louis, Mo. native had eight points and two rebounds in last season's matchup with the Mavericks. She also finished her junior season averaging 8.2 points and 2.3 rebounds while shooting 39.6 percent from the field. 

The Falcons will play five of their next six games against Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference foes. After they play Colorado Mesa, they will take on MSU Denver, New Mexico Highlands, Arkansas Tech, CSU Pueblo and Adams State. 

ROWLAND TAKES THE WHEEL
For three seasons Mason Rowland shared the spotlight with Olivia Reed Thyne. In Hawaii she showed what Colorado Mesa looks like with her as the primary option.

The senior from Durango averaged 28.3 points and 11.7 rebounds over the Mavericks' three wins at the Hoops in Hawaii Tip Off Classic, totaling 85 points and 35 rebounds and earning tournament MVP. She scored in double figures and pulled down at least 11 rebounds in every game. That is up nearly 10 points per game from last season, when she averaged 18.4 as the team's second scorer behind Reed Thyne.

Game by game:
Alaska Anchorage (Great Northwest): 32 points on 10 of 17 shooting, 12 of 15 at the line, 11 rebounds, five assists and five steals in 32 minutes. She scored 11 of the Mavericks' first 14 points.
St. Mary's (Texas) (Lone Star): 28 points and 13 rebounds in all 40 minutes. After the Rattlers erased a 19 point lead, she scored 13 in the fourth quarter, including 8 of 10 free throws in the final 70 seconds.
Winona State (NSIC): 25 points and 11 rebounds, again playing all 40 minutes, with three triples and a perfect 8 of 8 at the line.

Rowland accounted for 42.5 percent of the Mavericks' scoring for the weekend and shot 45.5 percent from the field. Her free throw shooting stood out most. She made 30-of-35 attempts, more than the 28 free throws all three opponents attempted combined. She also led the team with seven steals and tied for the team lead with eight assists, while playing 37.3 minutes a night, including 80 straight minutes over the final two games.

ISENBART EMERGES AS SECOND SCORER
Sedonia Isenbart has gone from the end of the bench to Colorado Mesa's No. 2 scorer in one weekend. The junior from Stratton, Colo. is averaging 14.3 points through three games, second only to Mason Rowland's 28.3 and she has done it without making a start.

The jump is dramatic. As a sophomore, Isenbart played in 26 games, averaged 4.0 minutes and scored 51 points all season (2.0 per game). Her previous career high was nine points. Three games into this season she already has 43 points and is playing 26.3 minutes a night.

She opened the year with 12 points in 28 minutes in the season opening win at Alaska Anchorage, making 7-of-8 at the free throw line. She followed with eight points and four rebounds in the semifinal win over St. Mary's (Texas), including a three point play that helped the Mavericks open a 19 point first quarter lead.

Then came the title game. Isenbart scored a career high 23 points off the bench against Winona State, hitting 5-of-9 from three and all six of her free throws while grabbing a career best five rebounds. When the Warriors pulled within one early in the fourth quarter, she hit three triples and a jumper in less than four minutes, scoring eight straight points of a run that put the game away. She was named to the Hoops in Hawaii All Tournament Team alongside MVP Rowland.

Isenbart leads the Mavericks with six made threes, ranks second on the team in free throws made (15 of 17, 88.2 percent), and her scoring average is nearly double that of the team's third leading scorer, Jenna Krise (7.7).

WELCOME BACK JENNA
After an injury ended her 2025-26 season, Jenna Krise has made a full return. The 5'11" guard from Briggsdale has started all three games, played 31.3 minutes per game, and given the Mavericks a steady third option behind Mason Rowland and Sedonia Isenbart.

Her first two seasons were interrupted. Krise appeared in just one game as a freshman in 2024-25 before receiving a medical redshirt. Last season she started each of the first 11 games and was one of the team's most efficient players, shooting 58.1 percent from the field and 8 of 17 from three while averaging 4.7 points. She averaged 8.5 points in her two RMAC games before the injury cut her season short, and she watched from the sideline as the Mavericks made their run to the Final Four.

In Hawaii she picked up where she left off. She scored 11 points on 3 of 6 shooting and went 5 for 5 at the line against Alaska Anchorage. She opened the scoring in the semifinal win over St. Mary's (Texas) and finished with eight points. In the title game she played 37 minutes, pulling down six rebounds and handing out four assists, and her putback in the third quarter answered a Winona State run.

Through three games Krise is averaging 7.7 points (third on the team), 4.0 rebounds and 2.3 assists. She is a perfect 11 for 11 at the free throw line and leads the team with a 3.5 assist to turnover ratio (seven assists, two turnovers).

She arrived at Colorado Mesa as a two time Class 1A Player of the Year who led Briggsdale to back to back state championships and averaged 27 points as a senior.

LIVING AT THE LINE
The margin: The Mavericks have made 66 free throws to their opponents' 17, a 49 point advantage at the line. Their total scoring margin through three games is 38 points. In other words, Mesa has been outscored from the field (145 to 134 points) and has more than made up the difference at the stripe. The Mavs are shooting 35.8 percent from the field to their opponents' 37.3, and have made fewer threes (16 to 19).

The attempts: Mesa has attempted 79 free throws to its opponents' 28, an average of 26.3 attempts per game compared with 9.3. Opponents have been called for 70 fouls, while the Mavericks have committed 42.

When it mattered: The free throw line decided both close games in Hawaii. Against St. Mary's (Texas), Mesa shot 33.3 percent from the field and won by nine, while making 18 more free throws (21 to 3). Mason Rowland made 8 of 10 in the final 70 seconds. Against Winona State, the Mavs shot 31.0 percent and won by seven while making 12 more free throws (19 to 7), including 19 of 20 as a team.

Who's getting there:
Rowland: 30 of 35 (85.7 percent), 11.7 attempts per game, more than double her 5.7 last season
Sedonia Isenbart: 15 of 17 (88.2)
Jenna Krise: 11 of 11
Hallie Clark: 6 of 6
Tamryn Blom: 4 of 6

Not counting Cayden King's 0 of 4, the Mavericks are 66 of 75 (88.0 percent).

A step up from last season: The 2025-26 Final Four team made 15.0 free throws per game on 18.9 attempts and shot 79.5 percent. This year's team is making 22.0 per game at 83.5 percent. Opponents made 9.0 per game last year and are making 5.7 now.

DEFENDING THE STANDARD
Every Colorado Mesa game this season will be measured against last season, the best in program history. The Mavericks went 37-2 overall and 20-0 in the RMAC. They were the first RMAC women's team since Nebraska Kearney in 1995-96 to go unbeaten in league play and also win the conference tournament.

The streak is a big part of that standard. After losing to West Texas A&M on Nov. 14, Colorado Mesa won 34 straight games before the national semifinals. The 26th straight win, in February, had already set a program record.

The March run went further than any before it. Before last season, CMU hadn't reached the Elite Eight since 2013 and hadn't gotten past the second round in Rowland's time there. The Mavericks beat top-seeded Texas Woman's 65-64 in the regional final, won the program's first Elite Eight game, and reached the first Final Four in school history, where they lost 75-70 to Indiana (Pa.). Taylor Wagner was named RMAC Coach of the Year.

Colorado Mesa enters 2026-27 with two streaks to protect. The first is its NCAA Tournament run. Last March was the program's 10th NCAA appearance, nine of them under Taylor Wagner, and its third in a row. Wagner's teams also made three straight from 2013 to 2015, and the program had only one appearance before he arrived. A fourth straight bid would therefore be the longest streak in program history.

The second is the 20-win season. CMU's year-by-year records show 10 of Wagner's 14 teams reaching 20 wins, including the last three: 25-7, 25-6 and 37-2. Before he took over in 2012-13, the program had five 20-win seasons and none since 2002-03. Last season was also the third time a Wagner team reached 30 wins.

RMAC PRESEASON POLL
The Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) released their Preseason Women's Basketball Coaches' Poll and Preseason All-RMAC Team on Thursday (Oct. 22) afternoon.

Head coaches of the schools in the conference had to rank teams from 1-to-14 and they could not vote for their own teams with 196 being the maximum points any team could receive.

Colorado Mesa was picked to win the conference for the fourth straight season as they received 192 points and 11 of the 14 possible first-place votes. The Mavericks went 20-0 and won the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Tournament title for the first time since 2020. They later won the NCAA South Central Region title and advanced to the NCAA Final Four for the first time in program history.

MSU Denver was picked second with 166 points and a first-place vote followed by UCCS who netted 157 points and two first-place votes. Black Hills State was fourth with 155 points and the final first-place vote available.

Senior Mason Rowland was named to the Preseason All-RMAC team after receiving All-RMAC First Team honors a season ago. Rowland averaged 18.4 points and 6.1 rebounds in her junior season and scored a combined 52 points in her two NCAA Elite Eight games. The Durango, Colo. native was named to the RMAC All-Tournament Team and to the NCAA South Central Region All-Tournament Team for her performance in those two tournaments.

Colorado Mesa will open the season on Friday October 30 at the Hoops in Hawaii Tip-off Classic against Alaska Anchorage. The Mavericks will host Texas Permian Basin on Friday November 13 for their home opener. 

FIVE-FOR-5
On August 5, the NCAA approved a new age-based or clock eligibility model that allows student-athletes a streamlined five-year period to compete, starting upon full-time enrollment or after turning 19. 

This new rule replaces complex redshirt tracking and waivers and takes full effect for incoming cohorts starting in the fall of 2027. This rule also eliminates most traditional extension waivers outside of the major exceptions of military service, religious missions or pregnancy.

WHAT'S NEXT
The Mavericks will host No. 20 ranked West Texas A&M in a Sunday afternoon matinee in Brownson Arena. This will be the sixth straight season that two of the top programs in the South Central Region will meet up.

Colorado Mesa will have another week off to rest up and get healthy for another tough weekend. They will travel to Sin City for Thanksgiving games with a pair of ranked opponents. They will take on nationally ranked Gannon and Central Missouri at the CSN Event Center for the Division II Jackpot Classic on November 27 and 28.