It’s never easy trying to decide who the Team of the Tear is. Several Colorado Mesa University teams stood out this season with fantastic performances in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference.
Think men’s soccer, who placed second in the RMAC tournament and won an NCAA Division II Tournament game before falling in the next round. Or men’s basketball who had a great bounce-back season after suffering two straight losing seasons and made some noise in conference play.
The 2018-19 Team of the Year had one of the best runs in recent memory. They finished the regular season undefeated at home, formed some of the most energetic crowds CMU has heard in a long time and achieved several accomplishments that are etched into Maverick history.
The Colorado Mesa University women’s basketball team earned the honor this year, and they are well worthy of it after the great 27-4 season and a 20-2 record during conference play. The women won the RMAC Regular Season and Tournament titles, earned the No. 2 seed in their NCAA region and advanced to the round of 32 before losing to eventual 2019 National Champions Lubbock Christian.
Brownson Arena became the go-to location in Grand Junction on Friday and Saturday evenings during the winter. The way the women played created many opportunities for electric plays that lit up the crowd, and they took advantage of nearly all those chances in their championship journey.
The team won 17 straight games at home this year and went on a tear with a 17-game winning streak between Nov. 23-Feb 2. Even after the winter layoff and the calendar turned, the women didn’t miss a beat. They became the team to beat in the RMAC and finished the season that way with their first RMAC Championship since 2015.
There were many contributors to the women’s team. Jaylyn Duran put together a season for the ages in her senior season. The sharp-shooter earned All-American honors, a WBCA All-American honorable mention and RMAC Player of the Year. Duran scored a career-high 18.6 points per game (first in the RMAC) and set a school record with 265 career three-pointers.
Syndi Brandon joined Duran with RMAC honors on the All-RMAC First Team including RMAC Tournament MVP honors. Nicknamed the “Energizer Bunny” of CMU, Brandon provided that spark with 7.5 ppg, 7.2 rebounds per game, 4.4 assists per game and 2.4 steals per game. A true stat stuffer, she hustled and played with heart, providing numerous clutch plays for the Mavericks. She also ended the year leading the entire nation in steals to turnovers ratio.
Players like Natalie Bartle provided a late-season park with a pair of 20 point scoring performances, Kylyn Rigsby played with grit and smooth touch on her way to an All-Tournament selection. Karina Brandon and Sierra McNicol grabbed rebound after rebound to keep several plays alive in several important games. And you can’t forget Kelsey Siemons who provided the Mavericks with some clutch threes and length on both ends of the floor.
None of their accomplishments are possible if these women didn’t play as a team. But that’s precisely what they did, and they did it as the best team in the RMAC. They played together, enjoyed doing it together, and that’s why they enjoyed so much success.
The team fed off the Brownson Arena crowd with some even saying it’s the loudest they ever heard the gym in their career. Even Brandon’s full-court heave before the buzzer helped the crowd and bench thrust into a roaring cheer.
The season became must-watch basketball. In turn, it helped the Mavericks in hosting NCAA Regionals for just the third time in program history. They showed even more people just how talented they were. At times, the team played so well and effortlessly you’d forget that they were capable of making mistakes.
Of course, Head coach Taylor Wagner and Assistant coach Hannah Pollert deserve some recognition for their coaching effort. The pair coached one of the better Maverick teams we have seen in a while and provided a platform for these women to succeed on many levels.
Congratulations on such a successful season.
