The Mavericks cruised to victory against both Fort Lewis College (FLC) and Western Colorado University (WCU) as graduate student Mariah Martin had another dominant weekend.
Martin has been a great addition to the Colorado Mesa University (CMU) Women’s Basketball team line up this season as she continues to be a consistent shooter for the team. That was no different this weekend as she combined for 48 points this weekend.
“I just think most teams are probably playing me for my drive so I have to trust my outside shot and that is what I have been focusing on since the metro game. I try not to think about offense honestly, I just let it come. I have to trust my pull up and my three.” Martin said.
Friday night, the Mavericks started the weekend off by getting the 66-41 victory against the Skyhawks.
The Mavericks got the defense of graduate student guard Sophie Anderson back this weekend and she continued to be a force to the Mavericks defense. Friday night, she was able to stop Sydney Candelaria. The FLC guard still put up 21 points but Anderson was able to put the pressure on her and it took her 28 shots to get there.
“Sophie did a good job on her and is really disciplined and she got nine free throws so a lot of the free throw line and she had to work for every shot,” Head Coach Taylor Wagner said.
Anderson had seven rebounds as she has been a major part of the team’s rebound success this season as well.
CMU saw a well rounded game again from graduate student Kelsey Siemons as she put up 17 total points and had 11 rebounds.
“The last couple of games my shots haven’t been failing and I have had to find another way to score and that is in the paint or at the free throw line and not necessarily from the three and we ran a couple screen and rolls and I got there or just in the zone we have been working on sealing instead of everyone just standing on the perimeter. We started to figure out the zone we started to move, seal and cut versus five out and pass and then Mariah or Dani [Turner] can take a shot. That is probably just part of it,” Siemons said.
The Mavericks continued to have success on Saturday night as the Mavericks out played the Mountaineers as they won 63-39.
The duo of CMU guards in Martin and Daniella Turner outscored WCU themselves as they combined for 49 points.
Martin was able to stun the Mountaineers not once but twice as she showed a back-cut pass to Turner before Turner went for the shot. The guard from Sandy, Utah later was able to break the ankles of two of her defenders then made the basket herself. Martin went 11-26 from the field and 2-3 from the arc.
Anderson had another dominant game against the Mountaineers as she was able to make more crucial blocks and plays for the Mavericks. The Paonia, Colo.native was tasked with guarding Emmery Wagstaff from WCU and held her to only two points early in the game.
The Mavericks continue a difficult stretch in their schedule as they travel to Utah for a game against Westminster College on Feb.1 before returning to Grand Junction, Colo. for a game on Feb.5. They then will compete in a series of makeup contests before finishing out the rest of their regular season schedule.
Top-off for the game against Westminster College is set for 5 p.m. in Salt Lake City, Utah.
