The second quarter was a rough one for the Colorado Mesa University (CMU) women’s basketball team on Saturday and was the difference in the game in their 60-54 loss against Black Hills State University (BHSU).
The Mavericks went into the second quarter with a 19-15 lead, but couldn’t get it going offensively before halftime. BHSU went on a 10-3 run to close out the half and take a 32-27 lead.
CMU kept pace with the Yellow Jackets in the second half, only being outscored 28-27, but could not muster the capable offense to regain the lead as they shot 8-of-26 (30.8 percent).
Erin Reichle led the Mavericks in scoring with 17 points on 5-of-18 shooting. Reichle made all five of her three-pointers. It’s the fifth time this season where she did not convert a two-point field goal. Karina Brandon was the only other Maverick in double digits with 11 points on 4-of-10 shooting.
CMU outrebounded BHSU 36-35, marking their first loss and moving them to 12-1 when they outrebound their opponent.
The Yellow Jackets limited the Mavericks to 36.5 percent from the floor in their first matchup earlier this season, resulting in a 56-53 win for BHSU. It was much of the same in the sequel, with CMU shooting only 32.1 percent (17-of-53) for the game and BHSU 39.2 percent (20-of-51) from the field.
Rachel Erickson led BHSU with 19 points.
The loss moves the Mavericks to 18-8 and 12-8 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC). The Yellow Jackets climbed to 20-6 with a 14-6 RMAC record. Even with the loss, CMU remains in seventh place in the conference.
The Mavericks will look to grab a couple of wins on the road Friday and Saturday when they play CSU-Pueblo and New Mexico Highlands. Both games start at 5:30 p.m.
