CHADRON, Neb. – Metropolitan State University of Denver women's basketball head coach Tanya Haave has racked up plenty of accomplishments in her long and successful career as a basketball player and coach.

1981 Colorado Sportswoman of the Year: check. NCAA Division I All-American player at women's basketball powerhouse Tennessee under the great Pat Summitt: check. Leaving the school as the Lady Vols' all-time leading scorer: check (she's still ranked No. 10). 14-year professional career: check.

All-time winningest coach in MSU Denver women's basketball history: check. That one's pretty new.

With MSU Denver's 64-61 overtime victory to open Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play at Chadron State on Saturday, Haave passed Darryl Smith in the Roadrunners' record book as she earned her 160^th victory as the program's head coach.

"On behalf of the MSU Denver athletics department, I'd like to congratulate coach Haave for reaching such an important benchmark in her career," said Dr. Anthony Grant, MSU Denver's athletics director. "Her accomplishments and contributions to MSU Denver go beyond the wins and losses and her influence goes beyond the court. In addition to providing significant value as a role model to her student-athletes, she's also an ambassador, not only for the athletics department, but for the university as a whole."

Haave's historic win wasn't an easy one. MSU Denver (2-4, 1-0 RMAC) and Chadron State (1-6, 0-1 RMAC) grinded in a back-and-forth contest for the entirety of the game, trading leads and momentum with neither team ever taking a lead of more than five points. Chadron State held a 14-13 advantage after the opening 10 minutes, while the Roadrunners mirrored that score in the second quarter, outscoring the Eagles 14-13 to tie the game at 27 going into the locker room.

MSU Denver grabbed a slight 45-43 lead heading into the final 10 minutes of the game thanks in part to Emily Hartegan's (Wylie, Texas/Wylie East) eight third-quarter points and a 7 of 8 team performance from the charity stripe during the period. Chadron State charged back in the fourth, however, and things looked grim for the Roadrunners as the Eagles took a 58-54 lead with 35 seconds remaining.

The Roadrunners wasted little time before a Jaelynn Smith (Denver, Colo./East) layup, then got the ball back after a Chadron State turnover. Smith subsequently sank two free throws in clutch fashion to tie the game at 58 with 24 seconds left. MSU Denver put forth a strong defensive effort in the extra period, limiting the Eagles to just three free-throw makes and a 0 of 6 mark from the floor.

Three MSU Denver seniors (Smith, Bree Wellington (Fresno, Calif./Buchanan) and Jonalyn Wittwer (Fall Creek, Wis./Fall Creek)) fouled out in overtime, leaving a young and fairly inexperienced lineup to finish the game. A Jaiden Galloway (Aurora, Colo./Grandview) steal (which has become her calling card in recent games) directly following an MSU Denver turnover proved to be a key moment with less than a minute remaining as the Eagles could never quite claw back. In the end, MSU Denver found a way to win.

"It's one I won't forget, that's for sure," Haave said after the landmark victory, which she believes gives the Roadrunners a lot of momentum heading into the thick of the conference schedule. "At this point, it makes a huge difference moving forward. You can feel it walking out of here with the kids and how they're feeling. I believe that we'll build on this. When we're on the road and don't play well and overcome adversity to find a way to win, it sets a great tone for us and we need to keep building on it.

It obviously wasn't just the way the Roadrunners won that made it an exciting victory, though.

"I didn't know I would be here," Haave said of becoming the program's all-time winningest coach. "Now that we're here, I'm just so thankful for all the players, all the staff, the administration, everybody that's involved. It doesn't happen in a vacuum. I'm really thankful for the opportunity that I've had here at (MSU Denver), which goes back to (former Athletics Director) Joan McDermott. The word is grateful. I feel very grateful."

Not to be lost in Haave's accomplishment was a pair of great performances by Smith and Hartegan on Saturday. Smith dropped a season-high 22 points, adding four rebounds and three assists while tying a career-high with five steals (interestingly, her other five-steal game came against Chadron State in 2017). Hartegan contributed 19 points and seven rebounds on 8 of 15 shooting. As a team, the Roadrunners made up for a lackluster shooting performance (20 of 59, 33.9%) with a solid performance at the free throw line (21 of 27, 77.8%).

"They kind of have a refuse to lose attitude and they are going to put the team on their backs," Haave said of Smith and Hartegan. "They do what they're supposed to do, score and carry our team. To be able to do that every night, that takes experience and they've got experience in those roles. (Jaelynn Smith (Denver, Colo./East)) is just putting the team on her back from the perimeter and Emily (Hartegan) is just going to battle. She's undersized in the post but she's giving us everything she's got."

On Saturday, the fifth-year senior helped give her coach a monumental win.

160 and counting.