UCCS women’s basketball competed against Colorado Mesa University on March 1 in the RMAC tournament’s quarterfinal round. The Mavericks have been one of the best teams in the conference this season and continued to dominate by sending the Mountain Lions out of the tournament early.
The game started out slow for UCCS as they turned the ball over on their first possession of the game, which inevitably led to easy points for CMU. Freshman guard Gracie Haneborg quickly came back with two points of her own to tie the game up and two apiece.
The game went back and forth with both teams playing hard. UCCS took a small lead though off of two free throws from freshman forward Maison White and a quick two from graduate student guard Bo Shaffer.
The UCCS lead did not last as the Mavericks went on a 15-3 run to end the first quarter to grab a 25-14 lead. Coming into the second quarter, UCCS attempted to mount a comeback but fell short as CMU continued to put on the pressure, ending the half on another 6-0 run and taking a hefty 20-point lead up 48-28.
Entering the second half, it was more of the same as CMU scored the first eight points of the half. The Mavericks also showed off their defensive presence, holding UCCS to only six points in the third quarter.
CMU continued into the fourth without giving any chance for a comeback from the Mountain Lions, taking the largest lead of the game by 72-41 with 4:19 left in the game. CMU ended UCCS’ season with a final score of 79-48.
White and redshirt sophomore guard Sophie Abela led UCCS with nine points each, along with a team-high eight rebounds from White as well. Haneborg and freshman forward Agar Farres combined for seven of the Mountain Lions’ eight total steals.
Despite the loss, the team’s 13 wins this season were the most since the 2018-19 season when they ended with 15. This was also UCCS women’s basketball’s first time back in the RMAC Tournament after five years.