In the long run it shouldn’t matter, but as of Friday, all of the momentum belongs to the Western Colorado University Mountaineers.
After winning the Regular Season Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Championship, the Colorado Mesa University women’s basketball team lost to their western slope rival in the final game of the regular season 59-52. The Mountaineers were second in the RMAC standings but left Paul Wright Gymnasium on Friday feeling like the top dogs.
Head Coach Taylor Wagner described how the Mavericks did not play with the same urgency WCU came with and it cost them down the stretch. CMU shot 32.2 percent from the field and only had the lead for no longer than two minutes throughout the entire game.
“Coach talked about it after [the game}. This is when leaders step up. This is when players step up,” junior guard Kylyn Rigsby said. “Tournament time, big games, stuff like that. We’re obviously disappointed but we don’t have time to pout. We have practice [Saturday], practice Monday then we have a game so we gotta get going.”
Western was undefeated at home (10-0) coming into Friday and played as if they haven’t lost there in years. The Mountaineers held the CMU offense to 20 points in the first half and forced the Maverick starters to get into foul trouble early.
Because of the consistent fouls committed by CMU, Western shot 30 times from the free-throw line and made 23 of them. The Mavericks made only seven free-throws. The starting five for the Mavericks was broken up from the very first quarter as Syndi Brandon got two fouls early in the first half and her presence was missed while she sat on the bench.
“They were fouls. We didn’t do the best. We let them get the positioning they wanted and we tried to guard them after they already had the ball which obviously wasn’t going to work and we know that,” Kylyn Rigsby said. “So that’s on us. It does hurt that we couldn’t get to the free-throw line as well.”
Dani Turner was forced to take the majority of the shots for CMU as the night progressed. The junior guard went 5-21 from the floor and accounted for only 10 points while turning the ball over five times.
Kylyn Rigsby led the Mavericks in scoring with 19 points. In the second half, CMU was able to get the game back within three points in the third quarter thanks to a couple of Rigsby’s threes. Then in the fourth, Rigsby made probably the best shot of the game with 22 seconds left as she was falling off-balance and somehow banked a deep three-pointer from 22-feet out.
“I knew that we needed a three,” Rigsby said. “I was thinking ‘I’ll either knock it down or they’ll foul me and I’ll knock three free-throws down. It looked a lot worse because it got crazy there for a second but it went in. I think that was just…not luck cause I’m never gonna say it’s luck. Shooter’s aren’t gonna say that.”
The three got CMU back within a single possession but the Mountaineers got back on the charity line and sinked four more free-throws to seal the win.
Overall, the game does not affect the RMAC rankings as CMU has already solidified their number-one seed in the RMAC Tournament next week. However, the win by WCU did affect the regional rankings. The Mavericks were fourth in the South Central Regional rankings while Western ranked fifth coming into Friday. Another poll will be released at the start of next week in which the top eight will make it into the NCAA Tournament.
It is unsure where CMU will now land but the way they perform in the RMAC Tournament will help determine that. They can seal an NCAA Tournament spot if they win the conference tourney next week. The first round will begin on Tuesday when CMU plays host to MSU-Denver who is the number-eight seed.
