Box Score Box Score

DENVER - Kristin Valencia (Moriarty, N.M./Moriarty H.S.) scored a career-high 20 points and grabbed nine rebounds as No. 7 Metro State held on for a 64-61 win over Nebraska-Omaha on Saturday. The Roadrunners improved to 2-0 with their first win over an NCAA Division I opponent since 2003, while UNO fell to 1-1.

Valencia shot 9-of-17 from the floor and scored 13 points in the second half.

Alyssa Benson (Eden Prairie, Minn./Minnetonka H.S.) was on fire for the second straight night, buring five 3-pointers and scoring 15 points off the bench. She had 12 points in the first half.

Jasmine Cervantes (Johnstown, Colo./Berthoud H.S.) filled up the stat sheet with 11 points, seven rebounds and four assists. She had six points in the final five minutes to carry the team down the stretch.

Caley Dow (Centennial, Colo./Arapahoe H.S.) helped Metro State to a 49-33 rebounding edge with 13 boards, including six on the offensive end. She also had five points and three assists.

Metro State went 14-for-17 (.824) at the line, despite shooting just 31.4 percent from the floor. The team also hit 6-of-20 from the outside.

UNO shot 42 percent, but hit just 11-of-18 (.611) at the line. Metro State also forced 16 turnovers.

The Roadrunners were carried in the first half by Benson's four 3-pointers, taking a 30-27 lead into halftime. Metro State led by seven points with 1:43 left, but the Mavericks scored the final four points of the half.

Metro State took its largest lead of the game at 43-35 with 15:29 left after two free throws from Cervantes. UNO went on an 8-2 run to tie the game at 54-54 with 7:35 left. However, Metro State never trailed in the second half. Brandi Valencia (Moriarty, N.M./Moriarty H.S.) hit two free throws with 5:38 left and the Roadrunners held the lead the rest of the game.

A 3-pointer by UNO's Heather Pohl cut the lead back to one at 60-59 with three minutes left. Cervantes answered with a jumper in the paint to push the lead back to three. Jamie Nash hit a jump shot on the ensuing Maverick possession with 1:38 to play, giving her a game-high 22 points.

The Roadrunners went scoreless on their next two possessions and UNO took the ball back with 31 seconds left down by one. Strong defense on the perimeter by Kristin Valencia (Moriarty, N.M./Moriarty H.S.) and Emily Wood (Louisville, Colo./Monarch H.S.) forced a bad shot by Nash with seven seconds left, and Dow controlled the rebound. After she was fouled with 1.7 seconds left, she buried two free throws for a 64-61 lead.

Following a foul with 1.1 seconds left, the Mavericks missed the front end of the 1-and-1 and the clock ran out on the rebound.

A strong defensive effort in the final 5:14 by the Roadrunners held UNO to just 2-for-8 shooting and two turnovers during that stretch.

Metro State will be back in action on Friday, Nov. 25, at West Texas A&M.