Dancing is fun. It doesn’t matter what kind either — swing, salsa, waltz or foxtrot — all of them tend to be a good time between the two partners. Except for the big dance in March.
For the Colorado Mesa University women’s basketball, their partner for the big dance is someone who they are very familiar with. For the fourth time this year, and for the second-consecutive game, CMU will play Westminster College. This time around though, it’s in the big dance.
“We’re just excited that we get to keep playing. We know them well they know us well,” Head Coach Taylor Wagner said. “That’s just kinda the way it has to be and so we’re fine with it. Like I said I’m happy we get to keep playing and we get practice and it’s more time on the court for us so it’s valuable time for our team.”
The Mavericks are coming off a fresh Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Tournament championship that saw them knock of the Griffins for the second-consecutive year. Come Selection Sunday, CMU drew the No.4 seed and WC drew the No.5 seed in the South Central Regional Bracket.
It isn’t very often that conference opponents will play each other twice in the span of two weeks, especially in the postseason. Consequently, due to the fact that the South Central Region has only two conferences in it, the fourth meeting between CMU and WC will act as a rematch from last Saturday.
“For me it doesn’t get boring,” Wagner said. “We want to make sure the girls still enjoy it because there’s kids on this team that haven’t been to an [NCAA Tournament] yet or haven’t won an RMAC and so it’s exciting for them and we don’t wanna get complacent at all. Sometimes that happens where you win and you let some things slide because you did and we can’t be that type of team or program.”
The Mavericks held the Griffins to 37.3 percent shooting from the field and 48 points which was their third-worst scoring performance of the season. The RMAC Championship Game was supposed to act as a rubber match between the two teams. Normally, rubber matches means the end of a feud.
In terms of preparation, this could actually work in favor of the Mavericks. Having played the same team three times prior in the span of two months means an endless supply of usable film, but also a game plan that can be recycled and perfected.
“I think you go back to the last game and kind of see some of the things that they were doing differently against us and how they guarded us and what they ran. We just gotta tweak some things and really be ready for anything from them, I mean, we have a whole week to prepare and so they could always throw in something else at us.”
This will be the sixth appearance in the NCAA Tourney for CMU in program history and the fifth time under Head Coach Taylor Wagner. The Mavericks made the tournament last year after winning the RMAC and lost to the eventual national champions, Lubbock Christian.
Lubbock Christian will play host to the regional bracket as the Chaps drew the No.1 seed after finishing the regular season with a 28-3 record and winning the Lone Star Conference title.
CMU will look to meet the Chaps in the second round of the regional bracket. Last year, LCU defeated CMU giving the Mavericks their only home loss of the entire year.
