The No. 4 Colorado Mesa women's basketball team will have a split week this week. They will be on the road at Westminster on Tuesday at 5:30pm before returning home for the final time during the regular season when they host Western Colorado at 1:00pm on Saturday.
 
LAST TIME OUT
The Mavericks swept both games on the weekend and have extended their winning streak to 23 games on the season and to 33 consecutive RMAC regular season wins dating back to the beginning of the 2024-25 season.

The Mavericks defeated Fort Lewis 69-50 on Thursday behind the 25 points and 15 rebounds of Olivia Reed Thyne. The Mavericks outscored the Skyhawks 13-4 in the first quarter and were able to win three of the four quarters of the game. Mason Rowland (19) and Mykaela Moore (11) also finished in double figures.
 
Colorado Mesa used a 26-13 advantage in the first quarter and a 21-6 third quarter to earn a 72-51 win over New Mexico Highlands on Saturday. Reed Thyne had 26 points and 18 rebounds while Mason Rowland finished with 11 points and six assists.
 
ONE WIN AWAY
The Mavericks are just one win away from clinching a share of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference regular season title and the No. 1 seed for the conference tournament. Colorado Mesa is 16-0 in the conference while Adams State is 13-3 after a pair of losses last week on the road at Westminster and Western Colorado. Black Hills is in third at 12-4 and the best they can finish is 16-4 but would likely have the PI tiebreaker on the Mavericks should they finish tied.
 
They are three games up on Adams State with four games to play. Any combination of two Maverick wins, or two Grizzly losses would result in the outright championship.
 
MILESTONE UPDATE
Redshirt sophomore Mason Rowland is nearing a milestone of her own coming down the home stretch of the season. The Durango, Colo. native is 32 points shy of reaching 1,000 points in her career. Rowland has scored in double figures in 26 of the 27 games she has played this season.
 
If Rowland gets her average in the remaining games, she would be on pace to net 1,000 points on Saturday at home against Western Colorado in Brownson Arena.
 
FOUR-YEAR PLAYER RECOGNITION
Colorado Mesa will recognize four four-year players following Saturday's game with Western Colorado. Olivia Reed Thyne and Mykaela Moore will be playing their final regular season home games while Macy Larsen and Kailey Page have eligibility remaining but have not decided whether they will return.

As a class, these student-athletes have won 89 games and are on the verge of winning their third straight Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference title. They are also on the precipice of heading to their third straight NCAA Tournament.
 
TO THE TOP
One of the final record Olivia Reed Thyne was in the hunt for fell this weekend as she eclipsed 2,000 points in her career and became the RMAC All-Time leading scorer all in one game. The Windsor, Colo. native eclipsed the 2,000-point milestone in the third quarter with 1:45 left on a layup with an and-1 to make it 45-33.
 
The RMAC record-breaking point came in the in the fourth quarter on a free-throw with 8:55 to play in the game which put Reed Thyne at 2,003 total points in her career. She became the first women's basketball player with 2,000 points and 1,000 rebounds in her career which has been spent entirely in the RMAC.
 
Olivia moved up one spot on the Centennial State list and now ranks fifth all-time in collegiate scorers in Colorado. The list is headed by the legendary Becky Hammon who had 2,740 points for the Rams of Colorado State in the late 90s.
 
COLORADO ALL-TIME SCORING LIST

1. Becky Hammon, Colorado State, 1995-99, 2,740
2. Alisha Little, CSU Pueblo/Northern Colorado, 2019-25, 2,621
3. Brittany Spear, Colorado, 2007-11, 2,185
4. McKenna Hofschild, Colorado State, 2020-24, 2,162
5. Olivia Reed Thyne, Colorado Mesa, 2022-present, 2,157
6. Loma Kollmeyer, Colorado College, 1976-80, 2,109
7. Lisa VanGoor, Colorado, 1980-85, 2,067
8. Savannah Smith, Northern Colorado, 2014-19, 2,013

A new list to look at is the active career points leaders in all of NCAA.
 
ACTIVE NCAA DIVISION II SCORING LEADERS

1. Natalie Bremer, Minnesota State, 2,232
2. Emma Miller, Minnesota-Crookston, 2,172
3. Olivia Reed Thyne, Colorado Mesa, 2,157
4. Asher Cai, Central Washington, 2,132

SCOUTING WESTMINSTER
The Griffins are coming off their best win of the season as they defeated second place Adams State by 11 on Saturday. They are winners of three in a row but are still a little bit of a long shot to find themselves in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Tournament. That being said, they would like nothing more than to knock off the top team in the conference on Tuesday.
 
Ellie Mitchell leads a trio of Griffins in double figure scoring at 13.8 points per game. She had just three points the last time she played against Colorado Mesa but scored 21 points against Adams State on Saturday and a season-high 29 against CSU Pueblo on January 31.
 
SCOUTING WESTERN COLORADO
The Mountaineers are playing some of their best basketball of the season right now as they are winners of four of their last five games including wins over both Adams State and Fort Lewis last weekend in Gunnison. They are on the verge of possibly cracking into the NCAA Regional Rankings that will be released for the first time this week and would vault in those rankings with a win over Colorado Mesa.
 
Ivey Schmidt is one of the best scorers in the conference and region at 19.8 points per game and backs it up on the defensive end with 6.9 rebounds per game. She has scored in double figures in 13 straight games and scored a career-high 28 in the Mountaineers win over Adams State.

THE STAFF
Taylor Wagner enters his 14th season at Colorado Mesa in 2024-25, the second-longest tenure in program history. Coach Wagner reached his 300^th win at Colorado Mesa on Saturday November 22 with a 102-53 win over Alaska Fairbanks in Salt Lake City. The 300^th win also made him the all-time winningest coach in Colorado Mesa women's basketball history eclipsing the 299 wins Steve Kirkham collected from 1988-to-2004.  
 
Wagner made the NCAA Tournament in each of his first three years as coach, including runs to the Elite Eight in 2013 and the Sweet Sixteen in 2014. He has led his team to eight total NCAA Tournament appearances ('13, '14, '15, '19, '20, '22, '24, '25).
 
During his first season, Wagner took a team that finished the previous season 13-14 and turned it into a 31-2 team that reached the NCAA Elite Eight, defeating Midwestern State 69-65 in front of 1,975 fans in Brownson Arena to secure the South Central Region title.
 
That Mavericks team set an RMAC record for the most consecutive regular-season victories at 25, spanning from Nov. 8, 2013 to Feb. 28, 2014. Wagner won his 100th game at the helm of the Mavericks on Feb. 19, 2016 against Chadron State. It took him just 118 games to reach the mark.
 
Wagner is on the precipice of becoming the Mavericks all-time wins leader this season as he needs five wins to tie Steve Kirkham and six wins would give him 300 in his time at Colorado Mesa along with the top spot on the coaching table.
 
COLORADO MESA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL ALL-TIME COACHING WINS
Taylor Wagner, 320-91
Steve Kirkham, 299-157
Timi Brown, 58-79
Jack Scott, 49-59
Roger Walters, 38-42
 
Assistant coach Hannah Pollart is starting her 10th season as the Mavs' top assistant coach, working primarily with the post players. Pollart played one season for the Mavericks, helping CMU reach the South Central Regional championship game in 2013-14. She averaged 7.2 points and 6.1 rebounds.
 
Before transferring to CMU, Pollart played two seasons at Northeastern Junior College, where she was an All-Region IX player and an NJCAA Academic All-American. She played her junior season at Cameron University.
 
Jaylyn Duran is entering her second season on the coaching staff. Duran played at CMU from 2015-2019, averaging 12.6 points for her career, including 18.6 points as a senior, when she was the RMAC Player of the Year and a WBCA honorable mention All-America selection.
 
A CMU graduate with a degree in Kinesiology/ Fitness & Health Promotion, Duran scored 1,352 points, eighth in program history, and is first all-time in 3-point field goals made (265).
 
THE DEAN OF THE RMAC
Colorado Mesa head coach Taylor Wagner not only surpassed 300 wins in his career this season, but he became the RMAC's all-time wins leader within the conference. Wagner passed legendary Regis Head Coach Linda Raunig for career RMAC wins when he passed her 226 RMAC wins on January 10 with the 89-49 win over Adams State in Alamosa.
 
Below are a pair of lists detailing where Wagner sits in the hierarchy of RMAC women's basketball coaches:
 
Career RMAC Wins

1. Taylor Wagner, Colorado Mesa, 2012-current, 238
2. Linda Raunig, Regis, 1996-2015, 226
3. Tanya Haave, MSU Denver, 2010-25, 213
4. Steve Kirkham, Colorado Mesa/UCCS, 1988-04, 10, 179
5. Kip Drown, CSU Pueblo, 2005-15, 141

Career Wins while in the RMAC

1. Linda Raunig, Regis, 1996-15, 323
2. Taylor Wagner, Colorado Mesa, 2012-current, 320
3. Steve Kirkham, Colorado Mesa/UCCS, 1988-04,10, 305
4. Tanya Haave, MSU Denver, 2010-25, 288
5. Brittany Simpson, Colorado School of Mines, 2012-current, 250

COLORADO MESA TURNS 100
The CMU Century Celebration stands as the cornerstone of Colorado Mesa University's year-long centennial celebration. This ambitious initiative unites our community in honoring a rich heritage while boldly envisioning the next hundred years of academic excellence.

Led by the Steering Committee and six specialized sub-committees, we're orchestrating a transformative experience that will resonate through generations. Each committee brings unique expertise to create an unforgettable commemoration of our past, present and future.
 
To learn more about Colorado Mesa's 100-year celebration, visit cmucentury.com
 
MAVS ON THE RMAC NETWORK
The RMAC Network has moved to a pay-pre-view model for the upcoming 2025-26 season.  This season, all RMAC athletic events broadcast by its 15 full-member institutions and associate members will only be available for purchase via a single-game pass or a monthly or annual subscription. Revenue generated by the network will be redistributed to the league's membership to enhance their programs.
 
RMAC fans can purchase monthly and annual subscriptions that will provide them with access to all regular-season, championship, and archived broadcasts on the RMAC Network. A monthly subscription costs $25, and an annual subscription costs $130. Single-game passes are available for $10, which grants access to a single game for 24 hours.
 
Additionally, a discounted annual subscription price will be available to students, faculty, and staff of each member institution throughout the year. Purchasing options and pricing for individual RMAC Championships will be announced closer to each event.
 
UP NEXT
The Mavericks will make the long trek to South Dakota for the final two games of the regular season. They will start the weekend off with a matchup against South Dakota Mines on Thursday evening followed by a showdown on Saturday at Black Hills State.