PITTSBURGH, Pa. – A big second quarter led the No. 3 Colorado Mesa women's basketball team to their first Elite Eight victory in program history after defeating Minnesota Duluth 81-59 at the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse on the campus of Duquesne University.
 
The Mavericks reached the NCAA National Semifinals for the first time in program history and are the first RMAC team to do so since 2010 when Fort Lewis fell in the National Championship game.
 
Colorado Mesa took a narrow 22-19 lead at the end of the first quarter. The Mavericks then outscored the Bulldogs 29-10 in the second period to build a 51-29 lead at the half.
 
The Mavericks scored 19 points from the free-throw line in the second quarter as they went 19-for-20 from the line. They went on to shoot 32-for-34 (94.1 percent) from the line for the game.
 
The two teams played even for the third and fourth quarters, each scoring 13 in the third and 17 in the fourth.
 
The Maverick defense put the clamps down throughout the game limiting UMD to 36.4 percent from the floor as they came into the game shooting over 44 percent from the field. They also averaged 72.4 points per game on the season and were held to their second lowest point total of the season.
 
Olivia Reed Thyne posted a double-double for the 23^rd time this season and 66^th time for her career as she finished with 35 points and 15 rebounds. Reed Thyne now has six consecutive double-doubles and has scored over 30 points in five of Colorado Mesa's seven postseason victories while scoring 20 or more in all seven.
 
She finished the game 12-for-19 from the floor as the Mavericks shot 47.9 percent (23-48) as a team. The Windsor, Colo. native had 17 points in the second quarter alone.
 
With her rebounding total, Reed Thyne raised her season rebounding total to 443 as she broke the CMU, RMAC and Colorado Collegiate (all divisions) single-season rebounding record. Pam DeCosta had held the 40-year record of 435 from the 1985-86 season.
 
Reed Thyne is also the career record holder for all three charts with 1,417
 
She extended her CMU and Colorado Collegiate (all divisions) single-season scoring record to 860 points and is now just 20 shy of the RMAC record of 880, set by Fort Hays State's Annette Wiles in 1990-91 during the NAIA era.
 
Reed Thyne now leads NCAA Division II this season in both points and rebounds this season.
 
Mason Rowland finished with 21 points and 10 rebounds for her eighth double-double of the season. Rowland now has 691 points this season, the fourth highest total in RMAC history.
 
They were both 11-for-11 from the free throw line as the Mavs shot 32-34 (94.1 percent) as a team.
 
The Mavericks are now 37-1 overall and have won 34 consecutive games.
 
Colorado Mesa will face the winner of No. 2 seed Indiana (Pa.) and No. 7 seed Holy Family in the NCAA National Semifinal at 6:00pm EDT (4:00pm MDT) on Thursday March 26.