Despite the upset loss against the Cougars of Colorado Christian the night before, the Colorado Mesa University women’s basketball team reached 20 wins on the season after defeating Regis 71-55 on Saturday.
CMU, coming into the game against the Rangers, had lost two out of the last three games and desperately needed a win in their final road game of the year. With unlikely circumstances, the Mavericks were able to avoid losing back-to-back games for the first time all season with the help of Natalie Bartle and her career-high 25-point performance.
“She is such a good offensive player. She was ready for her turn and took advantage of it,” Head Coach Taylor Wagner said. “I think it was difficult because a lot of teams don’t have a scout on her and she did a phenomenal job for us.”
The Mavericks bench scored 30 points but only five points came via players other than Bartle. The freshman guard played 21 minutes and shot 70 percent from the field while making 11 free throws. Before this game, Bartle’s season high for points in a game was nine from Friday night against CCU.
CMU improved offensively after shooting 35.8 percent against the Cougars on Friday but then boosted it up to 51.1 percent against the Regis.
In the first quarter, Taylor Wagner’s defense held the Rangers to only two made field goals and a total of seven made for the entire first half. Regis couldn’t get hot out of the gate and it cost them in the long run. The Mavericks lead 36-26 going into halftime and would stay consistent the entire way through.
Leading scorer for the Mavericks, Jayln Duran, was suppressed as the senior accumulated only nine points and went 0-5 from beyond the arc. Kylyn Rigsby was the only other Maverick to score in double digits as she scored 13 points, grabbed two boards and had three assists. Forward Karina Brandon made a big difference on the boards grabbing ten rebounds and scoring six points.
“That was important for us to get out there and get that lead,” Wagner said. “We defended really well, in the first half we only gave up those three offensive rebounds in which I was really happy about that.”
In the second half, both CMU and Regis were dead even on the stat sheet but the slow start from the Rangers and the simple fact that CMU made more crucial shots was the decider in this game. Regis shot 35.4 percent from the field but were, without doubt, tied with CMU on all the other areas on the score sheet.
Both schools grabbed 29 boards, committed 15 turnovers and over 20 personal fouls.
CMU would hold on to win 71-55 and reach 20 wins on the season and made it the third time in the last five years the Mavericks have reached that mark. The Mavericks still hold onto the number one spot in the RMAC as Westminster College lost their game on Friday to Fort Lewis.
The remaining three games of the regular season will be at Brownson Arena starting with Fort Lewis coming into town on Feb. 22. The Mavericks are undefeated at home and will more than likely have to win out to be able to host the RMAC Championship Tournament which starts on March 5.
“You try and fight for that all year long, to get that top seed and hopefully that is something that we can do,” Wagner said. “It’s gonna come down to the last game and we just gotta prepare for each team and be ready to go.”
