Saturday was a good way to bounce back. The Colorado Mesa University women’s basketball team rebounded quite nicely beating Dixie State 72-59 after having their 17-game win streak snapped the night before against Westminster.
CMU, before Friday, had not lost since Nov. 17 and were undefeated in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) play. However, a fast and furious Griffins team ended what was a fantastic run by the best team in the conference.
Adversity stood CMU right in the face on Saturday as they would have to respond after losing the night before. Taylor Wagner and his team did just that as the Maverick offense was on point shooting 52.9 percent from the field and controlled the transition game scoring 24 points off turnovers.
“It could go the other way and feel bad about what happened on Friday but the good thing is we played again tonight and the girls responded,” Head Coach Taylor Wagner said. “They did a good job offensively I think we played one of our better games in a long time.”
Sydni Brandon was the star of the game in St.George as the junior was tied for first in scoring with 14 points but had a game-high eight rebounds and five steals. Brandon’s takeaways on Saturday gives her a season total of 51 which is second in the RMAC.
“She just kinda does everything or us,” Wagner said. “Last night, I don’t think it was her best game but she came out [tonight] and responded. Not only was she getting steals, rebounding and coming up with big plays, but she was scoring tonight which always a big lift.”
Jayln Duran also scored 14 points and grabbed two boards but turned the ball over six times.
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The first half started out even and as both teams scored 19 points in the first quarter. However, the elusive Maverick defense started to change the pace of the game in the second quarter as CMU had four steals and forced seven turnovers in the quarter alone. The Mavericks would go into halftime up 42-32 and would carry all the momentum into the second half.
“When we get a turnover we are taking points away from them,” Wagner said. “So if we can convert on that, it is always a big swing for our team.”
The ten-point halftime deficit was all too much for Dixie State to handle. The Trailblazers would only make three field goals in the third quarter as CMU would extend their lead to 18 at one point.
CMU’s offense did not miss a step for the remainder of the second half. The Mavericks shot 47.8 percent from the field and finished the game with 42 points in the paint.
The bench for the top team in the RMAC did their job as 21 points were contributed by the non-starters. Sierra McNicol scored eight rebounds, had three rebounds and three steals off the bench.
The Mavericks would go on to win 72-59 to improve to 19-2 overall and 16-1 in conference play. Westminster stays within one game of CMU with their win over Western State on Saturday. The four-game road trip continues for CMU as they travel to the front range to face off against Colorado Christian University on Feb. 15 and then play Regis University the next night o Feb. 16.
