Sports Reporter
A crowd of just over 1,000 were in attendance Friday night to witness the No. 2 CMU women’s basketball team add to its record home-winning streak against New Mexico Highlands.
After a slow start, the Mavs flexed their muscles, shooting 47 percent from the field while holding the Cowboys to just 32 percent shooting. Sharaya Selsor moved up in the record books with 29 points, putting her in the top 10 on the all-time CMU scoring list with 1,295 points, ahead of Mandy Miller. Selsor shot 12-13 from the charity stripe while dishing out three assists and snagging five rebounds and three steals. Aubrey Boehme added 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting from the floor.
The final buzzer sounded with the Mavs on top 71-52, and the Mavs now have 33 consecutive home wins dating back to the 2011-2012 season and have won 22 straight to open this season.
Although the Mavericks won by 19 points, the players and coach Taylor Wagner weren’t satisfied with the performance.
“Like always, our defense reflects how we play on offense,” Selsor said. “We were out-hustled most of the game, and when the ‘basketball gods’ see that, we miss shots we normally would make, and we didn’t do our job rebounding.”
The Mavs won the overall rebounding margin 43-32 but gave up 17 offensive boards.
“Sometimes I think we just show up and expect to get the W,” Wagner said. “That’s what is going to get us beat.”
The Mavericks entered Saturday’s game against Western New Mexico with a chance to clinch at least a share of the RMAC regular season title for the second consecutive season. The Mustangs proved to be a tough matchup earlier in the season, holding the Mavs to a season-low 57 points.
The first half showed what seemed to be an inspired Maverick team, building a lead that was up to 31 points. However, the second half was a different story. The large lead dwindled to only six points with under five minutes to play, and if it weren’t for Taylor Rock scoring four of their final six points, the Mavs may not have came out on top.
“I think we started playing the scoreboard,” said Rock, who was visually upset. “We can’t start making excuses. We are only as good as we want to be. We got to step it up and fight through a little bit of adversity.”
Wagner was not happy with the play and lack of energy of his starters and showed that as they sat the bench for almost a ten-minute stretch in the second half. The bench players got some valuable minutes, but other than Erin Reichle’s 13 points, none of the other reserves could find any offense.
“Those girls who came in played great,” Rock said. “They showed a lot of energy and played with a lot of hustle.”
The Mavericks were outscored 32-26 in the second half and committed 15 turnovers in the game.
“We got out to a big lead and gave it up,” Wagner said. “I’m still scratching my head about this one. We have got to do a better job. It’s probably coaching.”
Wagner said his team played inconsistently.
“We can be good, and then we can be just awful. We showed that tonight, and we showed that this weekend. If we want it, it’s there, but it is going to be hard, and I don’t think we realize that. We can’t just play 15 minutes a game and expect to win an RMAC shootout tournament. It just won’t happen that way.”
Wagner addressed the prolonged minutes of the reserve players and was for the most part satisfied.
“They struggled to score, but they showed a lot of hustle on defense,” Wagner said. “That’s what I wanted to see. If you’re a starter and don’t want to play defense, we are going to put someone in there who will, and that’s how it is going to be the rest of the season.”
Selsor finished with a team-high 19 points, while Hannah Bowden hauled in 10 rebounds as the Mavs found a way to win 69-58.
The win means a top seed for the RMAC shootout and a home playoff game on March 4, as well as the second consecutive RMAC regular season title.
The Mavericks (23-0, 19-0 RMAC) will play their final home game next weekend against Western State.
kparkhu@mavs.coloradomesa.edu
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