The 2024-2025 women’s basketball team won the first RMAC Championship Tournament in school history. After being 1 of 4 RMAC regular season co-champions for the 2023-2024 season, this season, they got the title all to themselves.
The season started rocky. They lost 4 out of 6 pre-season games but rebounded — pun intended — to be a force within RMAC. They upset the RMAC tournament as the No. 6 seed and gave NCAA Division II tournament champion Lubbock Christian a run for their money in the first round of the national tournament.
This season’s roster had four seniors who expect to graduate this spring. Seniors Maison White and Krystina Hagood reflected on their final season with the Mountain Lions.
Maison White
Forward Maison White has had a career for the record books in her 4 years as a Mountain Lion.
This season, she became 1 of 10 women’s basketball players to join the 1,000 points club at UCCS, with her final tally of 1,374 points putting her in fourth among all-time scorers. She holds the school record for all-time rebounds with 998. She averaged 12.1 points and 10.6 rebounds per game, reflected by her 14 double-doubles this season.
White said her biggest highlight from this season was the team’s postseason efforts. “It’s my senior year, so you can’t get much better than winning an RMAC championship.” She said winning the tournament was an experience she hopes every player at UCCS can have.
With the victory in the RMAC tournament, the team advanced to the NCAA Division II Women’s Basketball Tournament. “We felt like we belonged there,” White said. “Just playing at that higher level is a feeling of satisfaction.”
Despite the Mountain Lions’ slim loss to Lubbock Christian, 68-65, White expressed pride in her team’s game. “Things just didn’t go our way. We won every single [statistical] category of that game,” she said.
White said playing for UCCS has been a joy. “I can’t thank the community enough for their support and everything that the team and the school has done for me. They’re the most loyal and supportive people you’ll ever meet, so they’ve made this journey really easy.”
White will graduate with her master’s in criminal justice in May and plans to pursue nursing school this fall.
Krystina Hagood
“Going to UCCS is probably the best decision I think I made for myself,” said guard Krystina Hagood. After bouncing between schools, Hagood was considering quitting basketball for good and attending Texas State as a strictly academic student. A phone call from assistant coach Nic Cantrell brought the Colorado Springs native to UCCS.
Hagood has donned the gold jersey for two seasons, averaging 5.8 points per game and shooting 39.5% from field goal range.
After being beaten in the RMAC tournament final during the 23-24 season, Hagood said the team was eager to make it back to the final and win, even naming the team’s group chat “RMAC back-to-back champions,” referencing the 23-24 team’s group chat “RMAC champions.”
“We knew we were going to get some kind of championship this year because of how bad it hurt last year,” Hagood said.
Looking back to the RMAC tournament, Hagood said, “the basketball gods were on our side.” She said one of the highlights of her season was watching her teammates happiness after winning the tournament, “We all have the video saved to our phone of the buzzer going off against Mesa.”
Hagood offered parting words to the community and her teammates. “Thanks for all the unconditional support. To my teammates, [thanks] for always being there for me during my hardest times, picking me up and making sure I’m good — just being a second family to me. I’ll never forget that.”
Hagood will graduate with a bachelor’s in business in May.
Forward #24 Maison White and guard #11 Krystina Hagood. Archive photos by Lillian Davis.