Redshirt sophomore guard Natalie Bartle recorded her second double-double of the season with 20 points and 10 rebounds in a 59-53 win over the Roadrunners.
Colorado Mesa University (CMU) will advance to the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) Tournament Semifinals against Colorado School of Mines.
Senior guard Kylyn Rigsby was the Mavericks second-leading scorer with 15 points along with four rebounds and five assists.
Senior forward Kelsey Siemons had a big game defensively as she finished with four blocks and six rebounds.
Metro State University-Denver‘s (MSUD) Tosjanae Bonds stole the ball from senior guard Daniella Turner with 4:33 left in the fourth quarter. Bonds immediately raced down to the court for the fast break layup to bring the Roadrunners within two points.
“Comparing [the defensive on-ball pressure] to Mines, they are going to stick [Ashley] Steffeck or [Liz] Holter on me or on Natalie. Maybe [Raven Herrera], who is a quick guard like Bonds. Seeing where their hands are at on the defensive end and knowing whether we have a crossover or between the legs, whatever it is. Just being able to keep our composure especially with the ball,” Turner said.
Senior forward Sierra McNicol was freed up by a screen in the paint, and Turner got McNicol the ball for a wide-open layup on the left block two possessions later. Bonds got an offensive rebound in traffic and she made a layup with 1:50 left in the quarter to cut the Mavericks lead down to 50-52.
With 59 seconds left in the game, Bartle got a defensive rebound and was faced with heavy ball pressure. She had to race up the floor with 23 seconds on the shot clock to avoid the 10-second violation for not getting over half-court.
The play broke down and Bartle tried to get around a screen with under five seconds on the shot clock. She couldn’t get around the screen, but Bartle hit a deep three to increase the Mavericks lead to five points with 27 seconds left in the game.
“The play wasn’t for me actually. I can’t remember who it was for, but it got swung back to me and there were four seconds left. I was trying to come off a screen, but I couldn’t so I just launched it,” Bartle said.
MSUD’s Morgan Lewis answered with a three of her own with 15 seconds left in the game. Bartle was quick to answer with a jumper of her own to give CMU a four-point lead.
Alex Carlton raced down the floor for the Roadrunners but her three-point attempt was blocked by Rigsby with three seconds left. Rigsby was shoved by Lewis after the play, and she was given a technical foul.
Rigsby went to the free-throw line and went two-for-two to add insult to injury for MSUD at the end of the game.
The third quarter opened with McNicol scoring off Rigsby’s pass to give CMU a 29-23 lead. Bartle hit a jumper with 7:10 left in the third quarter to increase the Mavericks lead to eight points.
Carlton hit a three-pointer with 5:30 left in the third quarter to cut the Mavericks lead to four points. Turner answered scored four straight points for CMU to give them a 35-27 lead.
Bonds stole the ball from Rigsby with 1:13 left in the third quarter, and Bonds raced down the floor for the fast break layup to bring MSUD within four points.
Bartle got into the paint with seven seconds left in the quarter and made a layup to push CMU’s lead back to six points.
The Mavericks finished the first half up 27-23 as Bartle and Rigsby both had eight points apiece.
CMU finished the game shooting 41.4% from the floor.
The Roadrunners finished the game with 17 second-chance points compared to the Mavericks four.
“We’ve got to be better. Think of all the turnovers we had, and they scored a wide-open layup on it,” Head Coach Taylor Wagner said. “We’ve got to eliminate that, you just can’t guard that. That’s the biggest thing that we have to make sure that we do is no turnovers on our end.”
CMU’s next game is Friday, March 5 against the Orediggers at 5:30 p.m. in the RMAC Tournament Semifinals.
