Mavericks lose to West Texas in Regional Tournament

Brenna Barkley • March 12, 2022

The Mavericks season came to a close as they fell to West Texas A&M (WTAM) 64-70 in the regional tournament.

Colorado Mesa University (CMU) traveled to Canyon, Texas on Mar.11 to face off with the Buffalos in their second meeting of the season.

The Mavericks struggled to get through a tough WTAM defense as they were only able to shoot 31.7% from the field and 35% from behind the three-point line. Graduate student guard Daniella Turner was able to lead the Mavericks offensively and from behind the arc as she went 4-8 behind there.

Turner also led the Mavericks offense consistently throughout the game as she scored 25 points in what turned out to be the last game of her Maverick career.

CMU trailed by 21 points with 4:34 left to play in the fourth quarter but a couple of free throws that were good by graduate student Sophie Anderson helped the Mavericks find their momentum.

Daniella Turner goes up for a jump shot from right inside the three-point line in the RMAC quarterfinals against UCCS.| *Brenna Barkley for The Criterion*

Graduate student forward Kelsey Siemons became the 20 player in CMU Women’s Basketball program history to hit the 1,000 point mark. She also becomes the second Maverick to do it this season as Turner made the list early on this season.

Siemons also helped the Mavericks on defense as she had nine rebounds, which led the team against the Buffalos.

WTAM took advantage of the turnovers given up by CMU and was able to score nine points from turnovers. The team was able to drive their way into the paint as they scored 28 of their points from the paint.

Karley Motschenbacher led her team as she scored 24 points and went 3-5 from behind the arc. She also was able to go 8-11 from the field.

The Buffalos finished the game shooting 40% from the three-point arc and 46.4% from the field setting themselves up for success against the Mavericks.

Turner finished the season leading CMU in points with 578 points. Within that she made 34 three point shots. Defensively, Turner was able to grow on and found her groove as she had 173 total rebounds, 13 blocks and 33 steals.

Even though she only spent one season in a Maverick uniform, graduate student guard Mariah Martin definitely made an impact on the Mavericks program. Martin had 566 points and 144 rebounds throughout the season.

The Mavericks end their season with a record of 23-7. They only lost one game in Brownson Arena going 13-1 at home.

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