The Mavericks won in an overtime battle 77-71 against Black Hills State University (BHSU).
Graduate student guard Daniella Turner was one point shy of her career high as she started the game strong and played strong the whole way through. Turner had 28 points as she and the rest of the women’s basketball team battled against a physical Yellowjackets team.
Turner was able to put up 11 points alone in the first quarter.
“ I think it took a little pressure off of us to see her hit those shots and we had on the board players make plays and she made plays for us and as well as Mariah [Martin] did late and Kelsey [Siemons] came out with some big defensive stops so it was a fun game,” Head Coach Taylor Wagner said.
The Mavericks won the game by finishing as strong as they started. The Colorado Mesa University (CMU) Women’s Basketball team’s best run came when they needed it most in the fourth quarter where they scored eight points. Wagner talked after the game about how they needed to win the fourth quarter and they did just that.
“One thing I challenged them to do besides Park University and American Indian College we hadn’t won a fourth quarter and they won a fourth quarter and we needed that tonight and that was the difference. Obviously got us into overtime and then we took care of business in the last period,” Wagner said.
Graduate student guard Mariah Martin was a big part of the Mavericks victory as she was able to hit her shots in the second half and came up clutch in overtime. Martin finished the game with 20 points and seven of those points coming in overtime.
The Yellowjackets played the Mavericks very physically and the team had to find the grit and fight within them.
“ We know teams are going to come out especially on our home court and they are going to come out and play us as hard as they possibly can. Coach was telling us before that we think it is a basketball game but other teams think we are going to war. So that is also the mentality that we also have to have as well.” Turner said.
The Mavericks defense got better as the game went on and a big part of that was the way graduate student forward Kelsey Siemons played.
Siemons was able to help her team defensively as she recorded a double-double with 16 rebounds and 16 points. She also was able to block seven shots.
“ I was kind of shocked that they kept coming back in and shooting the same shot like they weren’t going around or anything they just kept trying to shoot the same shot and half the time I was trying not to foul just being straight up and they just would throw it straight into my hands,” Siemons said.
Freshman guard Kylie Kravig was able to handle herself well on the court as she brought toughness to the court for the Mavericks. She was able to give the Mavericks another ball handler on the court when they need one.
“She is small stature but she has a huge heart and she is a warrior. She is starting to prove herself a little bit more and I think her teammates trusts her, she trusts herself, obviously the coach trusts her and hopefully that can continue for her and her role,” Wagner said. “ She has a speed that maybe it is hard to guard and she can kind of just go and that is what I like when she gets on there she just takes it to another gear and hopefully she can keep doing that for us.”
A part of the Mavericks win was that they were able to be perfect at the free throw line and that was something that capped off the win for the team.
The Mavericks will continue their home stand as they face Chadron State College Dec. 11 at 5:30 p.m. in Brownson Arena.
