The women’s basketball team may have lost some key contributors to graduation, but that hasn’t slowed down the defending RMAC champions thus far. The Mavericks began their conference title defense this past weekend, hosting Chadron State and Black Hills State at Brownson Arena. Even with a target on their backs, the Mavs were unphased by their opponents’ high pressure. Sharaya Selsor and Taylor Rock both set career highs as they dominated the Eagles 86-41 and the Yellow Jackets 81-52. Rock recorded 20 points, including 6-7 from three-point range on Saturday, and Selsor broke her own school record of most points in a single game with 40 on Friday night.

“It’s been a lot of hard work,” assistant coach Karli Knudson said. “Fortunately, we were able to come out tonight and execute the way we have been in practice all along.”

While the Mavs (6-0, 2-0 RMAC) started their game against Chadron State (0-6, 0-2 RMAC) a little slow offensively, they kept the Eagles’ attack in check for most of the first half, allowing just six points through 10 minutes of play. Christen Lopez had three steals in the half and also had defensive help from Hanna Bowden and Leanndra Gilbert, who each recorded a block in the half. The Eagles were finally able to break out of their offensive woes and keep the game competitive, outscoring the Mavericks 9-6 in the final five minutes to make the score 36-23.

CMU responded in the second half by going on a 20-4 run that overpowered the Eagles. Selsor, who was named the RMAC player of the month, shot 66 percent from the field in the half, including a layup with 4:13 left in the game to set the new record for most points in a single game by a Maverick. Selsor said the credit for her record-breaking night goes to her teammates for finding her on the court.

“It was really a testament to them,” Selsor said. “My teammates found me with some great dime passes and they really set me up all night.”

On Saturday, Taylor Rock stepped up as the Mav’s scorer. The first half featured a balanced scoring attack as the Maverick starters totaled 34 of the 42 first half points. Hannah Pollart and Aubry Boehme stifled the Yellow Jacket offense in the paint and added six and seven points in the first half respectively as the Mavs led 42-22 at half.

Rock took over the game in the second half, shooting 100 percent, including four three-pointers. Rock added a block, a steal, and a rebound. Both teams matched each other point-for-point throughout most of the half, Rock’s long range shooting late in the game was the difference that gave the Mavericks their second double-digit win of the weekend.

Even with the impressive wins, freshman guard Erin Reichle explained that her team still has plenty to improve on and will face more difficult tests in the coming weeks.

“I think that it’s going to get a lot harder,” she said. “We’re going to have to deal with more adversity down the road, but I think we’re going to do great.”

The Mavericks look to remain undefeated next weekend on the road against Western New Mexico and New Mexico Highlands.

mfreter@mavs.coloradomesa.edu