The wins keep coming.
After a slow start and some crucial foul trouble early on Friday night, the Colorado Mesa University women’s basketball team was able to extend their winning streak to 16 games after defeating the Regis University Rangers 56-46.
It has been a memorable season for Head Coach Taylor Wagner and a Mavericks team that has not lost since Nov. 17 and continue to be undefeated in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) play this year.
Despite the success CMU has produced all season, Friday looked contradictory from the start as Rangers held the Mavericks eight points in the first quarter. Regis did not better only scoring six points but it was still unfamiliar territory for CMU to be in.
“That’s one of those things where we couldn’t buy a bucket,” Head Coach Taylor Wagner said. “Our defense kept us in the game, so for us to only hold them to six points in that first quarter was huge.”
Sydni Brandon and Kelsey Siemons found themselves in foul trouble early in the first and Wagner had no choice but to pull them until the second half. Brandon and Siemons were missed drastically as Regis outrebounded CMU in the first half 22-15 and would go into halftime with the 25-23 lead.
The leading scorer for the Mavericks, Jaylyn Duran, was held to only eight points in the first as the senior guard was also 0-2 from beyond the arc.
“I think last year we would’ve folded,” Jayln Duran said. “When we go into the locker room we talk about it and say ‘okay we are down two…let’s do this, this and this to get back on top’ and from there we never look back.”
The second half is where the momentum would start to shift in favor of the home team. The Mavericks came out and would shoot 42.4 percent from the field and pick up the slack from the first half. Duran also picked up the pace as she would go on to score 14 points in the second half and finish the day with 22 points, two assists and one rebound.
“The offense was there, the defense was phenomenal,” Taylor Wagner said. “That was the difference in the game.”
Sophomore Kylyn Rigbsy would also have a solid second half as she would rack up eight points and grab four boards. She would finish the game with 11 points and a pair of assists.
Sydni Brandon returned in the second half and made a solid change in momentum and energy on the court as the “energizer bunny” of CMU would go on to grab six boards, three steals and score six points.
The Mavericks would control the boards and manage to solidify the eventual 56-46 win and improve to 17-1 on the season while winning 16 games in a row.
CMU still holds the sole first place position in the RMAC and will try to continue their winning ways on Saturday against Colorado Christian University. Tip-off time will be at 5:30 p.m
