DENTON, Texas – The No. 3 Colorado Mesa women's basketball team advanced to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen after a 62-58 grind-it-out win over the Texas-Tyler Patriots on Saturday (Mar. 14) evening in the NCAA South Central Region Tournament at Kitty Magee Arena.
The Mavericks advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2014.
It was a battle of two of the best defensive teams in the country as UT-Tyler entered the contest ranked No. 7 in scoring defense allowing just 52.6 points per game while the Mavericks came in ranked No. 3 at 51.6 points allowed per game.
The Mavs shot just 36.7 percent (22-60) from the field but also held the Patriots to a 37.9 percent (22-58) effort. Colorado Mesa improved their shooting in every quarter and outscored the Patriots 23-19 in the fourth quarter after the teams were tied at 39 enter at the end of the third.
Neither team led by more than seven points in the game.
The Mavericks never trailed after
Olivia Reed Thyne's bucket with 5:47 to play in the game that made it 49-49.
Hallie Clark buried a three with three minutes left in the game that gave the Mavericks their largest lead of the game at 56-51. Less than a minute later, UTT cut it to one on a three ball of their own but that was as close as they would get down the stretch.
Colorado Mesa's kryptonite was their free-throw shooting. They shot 52.4 percent (11-for-21) from the line, but when it mattered most, they made them.
Mason Rowland made her final three free-throws in the final nine seconds of the game.
One of the biggest advantages the Mavericks had, came on the glass. Colorado Mesa outrebounded UT-Tyler 47-29 including a 16-4 edge on the offensive end. That led to an 18-1 scoring margin on second chance points.
D2CCA South Central Regional Player of the Year
Olivia Reed Thyne finished the game with 31 points and 13 rebounds. She has 30 or more points in four of the Mavericks five postseason victories. She now has 21 double-doubles this season and 64 in her career.
With her 13 rebounds, Reed Thyne raised her career total to 1,388 while becoming the all-time leading rebounder in Colorado Collegiate history (All Divisions). She also moved into second place in Colorado single-season history with 414.
She also became just the second Colorado collegiate player to score more than 800 points in a season. The Windsor, Colo. native now has 802. Six-time WNBA All-Star Becky Hammon (Now the Coach of the Las Vegas Aces) set the record of 824 during the 1998-99 season while playing for Colorado State.
Redshirt sophomore
Mason Rowland also finished with 12 points in Saturday's win.
Freshman
Hallie Clark finished with nine points, all from 3-point territory, and six rebounds.
UT-Tyler's Polina Latysheva led a trio of Patriots with 17 points and handed out five assists.
Colorado Mesa, seeded third in the regional, are now 35-1 overall and have won 32 straight games.
The Mavericks will await the winner of tonight's matchup between top-seeded Texas Woman's University and fourth-seeded UCCS for Monday night's Region Championship. The winner will head to the NCAA Elite Eight in Pittsburgh, Pa.
