DENVER – Down by double figures to the seventh-ranked team in the country and in danger of starting the season 0-3, the Metropolitan State University of Denver women's basketball team figured out the best way to play.
 
"I think they just decided they had nothing to lose, so they started playing to win instead of playing not to lose," MSU Denver coach Tanya Haave said.
 
And it almost worked.
 
Led by the long-range shooting of Jonalyn Wittwer (Fall Creek, Wis./Fall Creek) – who made 6 of 8 from 3-point range – the Roadrunners stormed back against West Texas A&M. Trailing by as many as 13 points in 
the third quarter, they kept coming even though the deficit was 56-44 with 6:06 to play.
 
Jaelynn Smith's (Denver, Colo./East) driving bucket tied it 62-62 with 1:30 left. Trailing 64-63, they had a chance to take the lead but Emily Hartegan's (Wylie, Texas/Wylie East) baseline jumper was off target with 31 seconds left. Down 66-63 with the last possession with 12 seconds to go, the Roadrunners were seeking a game-tying 3-pointer but their play was well-defended and they weren't able to get off a shot from distance.
 
Still, the 66-63 loss goes down as a reasonably positive outcome. They previously lost to 10^th-ranked Lubbock Christian (Texas) and a solid Texas A&M-Commerce team.
 
"We battled them," Haave said of West Texas A&M. "I thought they were ripe for the picking since they had played last night. I felt like on our home floor we could get them. We grew so much. We were a little tentative early in the game. We've got to be aggressive.
 
"I love challenging our team this early (in the season). I hate the losing, but we're playing very good opponents."
 
Wittwer hit all four of her fourth-quarter 3-point tries to help bring MSU Denver back.
 
"We had a bit of a slow start and we were a little complacent, kind of sat back on our heels a little bit," Wittwer said. "We need to have an attack mentality from the start.
 
"I thought we did a really good job of moving the ball the second half. We moved it faster, and that opened up shots for us."
 
Smith approached a triple-double with 15 points, seven rebounds and nine assists. Hartegan had 14 points and five rebounds. Bree Wellington (Fresno, Calif./Buchanan) and Mikayla Gonzales (Castle Rock, Colo./Castle View) each had six points and six boards.
 
West Texas A&M (4-0) had rolled up an average of 82.7 points per game while opening against Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference teams predicted to finish 11^th, third and fourth in the league. MSU Denver, picked second in the RMAC, held the Lady Buffs nearly 17 points below that pace.
 
Tyesha Taylor, a 6-foot-5 post who started her career at New Mexico State, had 23 points and six rebounds, but the Roadrunners kept West Texas A&M's long-range game under wraps with only one made 3 in the final three quarters.
 
"It's pick your poison, because they've got the post player who had the big night," Haave said. "She kept getting deeper and deeper (in the low post). We tried to keep it out of her hands. Do you go zone to keep it out of her hands and let the 3s go?"
 
Said Smith: "It's never ideal to lose, but we did some good things."