Sports Reporter
scschroc@mavs.coloradomesa.edu
The No. 4 ranked women’s basketball team clinched its first RMAC regular season title since 2002 this weekend by beating Western State Colorado University on Saturday. The men’s team didn’t fare so well, losing to the Mountaineers after a late comeback stalled.
The women held onto their No. 1 ranking in the South Central Region and will host the No. 8 seed in the first round of the RMAC Shootout, while the men have two final regular season games to earn a first-round bye in the Shootout.
“It feels great to have won league because it’s been a goal to put ‘13’ up on the banner for a long time,” said Katrina Selsor. “It’s a great feeling to have all your hard work pay off and to share with an amazing group of girls.”
Senior Kelsey Sigl scored 19 first-half points as the Mavs opened the game with an 11-0 run, finishing the half with a 20-point advantage. Sigl finished the game with 26 points and a season-high 13 rebounds, while Sharaya Selsor and Bruna Deichmann added 15 and 11 points, respectively.
The Mavs’ defense held the Mountaineers to 26 percent shooting and forced 12 turnovers to lead by as many as 38 points. WSCU’s Raven Taylor was the only Mountaineer with double figures.
While winning the regular season is a great achievement, the women are still looking forward to higher goals.
“We are definitely relishing the moment of winning the RMAC, but we aren’t finished yet,” Selsor said. “We still have the RMAC Shootout, regionals and hopefully more. We aren’t taking any time off. We still have unfinished business to take care of.”
The women are in a strong rhythm heading into the postseason, clicking on and off the court, which is an important part to any successful team.
“I couldn’t have asked to play with any other group of girls, and we get along so well,” said Selsor. “The chemistry we have is unlike any other team I’ve played on, and I believe it can only get better from here going into postseason.”
The men’s defense struggled to contain WSCU as the Mountaineers shot 60 percent from the field, including 16 three-pointers. With seven minutes remaining, the Mavs started to erase a 28-point deficit, outscoring WSCU 30-12 over the next six minutes.
With possession and the Mountaineer’s lead down to 10 points, the Mavs’ momentum was crushed when a false fire alarm went off inside the building with about one minute remaining.
All five Mountaineer starters finished the game with double-digit scoring, and WSCU made four free throws in the last minute to finish the game 93-82. The loss marks the Mavs’ third in the last four away games and their sixth on the season.
The men (17-7, 14-6 RMAC) and women (23-1, 19-1 RMAC) will return to Brownson Arena this weekend for their final regular season games against Adams State and Fort Lewis.
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