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DENVER - Alyssa Benson (Eden Prairie, Minn./Minnetonka H.S.) scored a career-high 24 points off the bench to lead No. 15 Metro State to a 66-53 victory over Mesa State on Saturday at home.  The Roadrunners improved to 18-1 overall and 14-1 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, while MSC fell to 12-7 overall and 9-6 in the RMAC.

Benson was nearly perfect, hitting 9-of-10 from the floor, including 6-of-7 from the outside.

Brandi Valencia (Moriarty, N.M./Moriarty H.S.) also added 10 points off the bench, helping the Roadrunner bench outscore Mesa State's bench 36-12 in the game.

Cassondra Bratton (Arvada, Colo./Pomona H.S.) scored nine points and had nine rebounds and three assists.  Jasmine Cervantes (Johnstown, Colo./Berthoud H.S.) also scored nine points and had four rebounds and three assists.

Metro State hit 18-of-21 (.857) at the line and outrebounded the Mavericks 31-28.

The game was tight for the first 12 minutes as Metro State finally took the lead for good at 15-14 after a jumper by Valencia with eight minutes left in the first half.  The Roadrunners led by as much as 12 in the first half and took a 31-20 lead into the break after a jumper by Emily Wood (Louisville, Colo./Monarch H.S.) 32 seconds before half.  Benson had 11 points to lead all scorers midway through the game.

She got even hotter in the second half, shooting 5-for-5 for 13 points as Metro State dominated the rest of the game.  The Roadrunners maintained a double digit lead the entire second half and led by as many as 19 points.  MSC got hot late, trimming the lead to 11 with 2:47 left, but a jumper by Benson with 1:10 left and a layup by Bratton with 26 seconds left kept the lead over 10.

Metro State will hit the road to play at Colorado Christian on Friday at 6 p.m.  The Cougars dropped two games this weekend to Nebraska-Kearney and Chadron State to fall out of a tie with Metro State and Fort Lewis for first place in the conference.