Sports Reporter
Christen Lopez does it all. Last week her career-high 25 points brought the No. 2 Mavericks to the Southwest Regional Tournament.
On Saturday, her seven steals gave CMU the edge to beat the No. 3 seed Tarleton State TexAnns 66-44 in the second round, propelling the team to its second straight Sweet Sixteen appearance.
“Two weeks ago I said use your instincts, because we seemed to get robotic on defense. Tonight she did. She was all over,” Coach Taylor Wagner said. “That’s what I love about her. She’s quick, and she was a warrior tonight.”
Defense as always was key, but in the first round regional matchup the Mavericks spotted Midwestern State a 9-0 lead, and Wagner wasn’t going to let his team make the same mistake twice.
“The first five minutes were key for us. We didn’t come out tentative. We were aggressive and executed our plays and found who was open,” Wagner said. “We talked about sharing the basketball, and when we do that, we’re a little bit difficult to guard.”
Specifically, Sharaya Selsor was difficult to guard. After finishing with nine points in the first round game, Selsor started 4-7 with 10 points to help the Mavericks control a game they never trailed in.
“My teammates set me up with some really good screens,” Selsor said. “I got open looks and was able to get good shots from the perimeter.”
Selsor wasn’t the only Southwest Region First Team selection on the court. Kiara Wright for the TexAnns came into the game averaging a double-double and was the leading scorer for her team.
Aubrey Boehme started out with great defense, shielding any passing lane to Wright, but Hanna Bowden’s performance off the bench showed that the Mavericks would be the aggressor. Bowden got low and pushed Wright off her spot. Wright eventually stood straight up and threw her hands in the air out of frustration.
“The aggressive teams will continue to play. The passive ones go home,” Wagner said. “We have to be an aggressive team not only in the post but on the perimeter and then help each other. We didn’t want to give them easy baskets. A layup can deflate your defense, and when it got close we wanted to make them earn it at the free throw line.”
Not a bad strategy considering that Tarleton State hadn’t managed 70 percent from the line this season.
Six of Lopez’s 10 points came by way of three wide-open layups. First, she spun off the hip of her defender, and, with the remaining four TexAnns on the other half of the court, she finished with an easy layup. Her next two were on identical plays. Hannah Pollart set the screen up top, Lopez used her speed to lose her defender and Taylor Rock dropped it ever so gently over her shoulder, putting the Mavs up 17 with eight minutes to play.
Four Mavericks scored in double digits Saturday, led by Boehme and Sharaya with 15 and 20, respectively. Pollart added 12 and a game-high 12 rebounds to complete her double double.
The Mavericks played Western Texas A&M Monday. Due to printing schedules, coverage of the Regional final was unable to be included in this issue. Check out thecrite.com for a full recap of the Mavs’ Regional Championship game.
brjthomp@mavs.coloradomesa.edu
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