DENVER – Jaelynn Smith (Denver, Colo./East) is now the most distinguished dime-dropper in Metropolitan State University of Denver women's basketball history.
Smith brought her career total to 463 assists with nine helpers in the Roadrunners' 82-51 drubbing of CSU-Pueblo on Friday night, breaking the previous program record of 462 held by MSU Denver great Jasmine Cervantes.

The senior guard and Denver native, who was named Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Week on Monday for her performance in two games last weekend, also led the Roadrunners with 16 points and tallied four rebounds and three steals on Friday evening. When all was said and done, the Roadrunners posted their largest margin of victory, 31 points, since Jan. 17, 2017 against Adams State.

"(Jaelynn Smith (Denver, Colo./East))'s got a real knack of knowing what the team needs and when they need it," said MSU Denver head coach Tanya Haave, who picked up her 200^th NCAA victory as a head coach with Saturday's win. "She just comes in and does her job every day. She's meant a lot to the program for four years and means a lot to this team right here. It's just great leadership. I'm very proud of her and very happy for her."

CSU-Pueblo (8-8, 6-4 and T-4^th RMAC) hit two 3-pointers in the first minute, but that was about the end of their reign in Friday's game at the Auraria Event Center. MSU Denver (6-10, 5-5 and T-8^th RMAC) took off on a 12-2 run with 4:34 remaining in the opening period and led 22-13 after one.

From there, it was the MSU Denver show. The Roadrunners outscored the ThunderWolves 25-9 in the second to take a 47-22 halftime lead and put the game out of reach with an entire half to play. MSU Denver made 11 of 19 field goals in the second quarter (57.9%) while CSU-Pueblo managed to make just 1 of 9 attempts from the floor (11.1%).

The story was similar in the third quarter, as the Roadrunners outscored the ThunderWolves 19-11 in the third and forced CSU-Pueblo to a measly 4 of 12 (33.3%) from the field. All that was left in the fourth was to finish business, and the Roadrunners did just that to end with a season-high 82 points on a season-best 50% shooting mark (32 of 64). MSU Denver racked up 21 assists on 32 field goals, also a season-high for helpers.

While the offensive display was quite impressive, MSU Denver's defensive effort was just as important.

"I think defense helps the offense," Haave said. "We were able to stop them and we were able to run and get some easy transition baskets. We did move the ball. When we move the ball, we'll have better shots and our percentage will be better. I think we were able to do the exact opposite for (CSU-Pueblo), make them really work for their shots and we were able to get the rebounds."

The ThunderWolves managed to shoot just 27.5% (14 of 51) from the floor due to MSU Denver's stellar defense. The Roadrunners forced 19 turnovers while committing only 13 of their own. They also grabbed a whopping 15 steals and outrebounded the ThunderWolves 49-34, a season-best rebounding margin.

Everyone got in on the fun Friday night, as all 10 Roadrunners who played scored at least one bucket. Senior forward Mikayla Gonzales (Castle Rock, Colo./Castle View) scored a career-high 12 points, while fellow senior forward Emily Hartegan (Wylie, Texas/Wylie East) was 6 of 7 from the field for 12 points. Freshman guard Jaiden Galloway (Aurora, Colo./Grandview) had a career-high nine points, making a career-best 3 attempts from long distance.

Sophomore center Losalini Katia (Wyoming, Australia/Pennant Hills) tied a career-high with six points, while freshman guard Abbigail Juozapaitis (Snohomish, Wash./Glacier Peak) scored six points and grabbed a career-high six rebounds. Freshman forward Morgan Lewis (Pagosa Springs, Colo./Pagosa Springs) also tied a career-high with six boards, while sophomore guard Mariah Schroeder (Caledonia, Minn./Caledonia) tied a career-high with four points and set new career bests with four rebounds, three assists and three steals.

Junior forward Bree Wellington (Fresno, Calif./Buchanan) was solid once again, collecting eight points, four rebounds and two steals in 16 minutes. Senior guard Jonalyn Wittwer (Fall Creek, Wis./Fall Creek) scored seven points and grabbed five boards.

"We had a lot of energy, passion and enthusiasm," Haave said. Everybody that played tonight, contributed. When you have those kinds of contributions, it helps everybody out. It was clearly a total team victory.

Similar to setting up a teammate's bucket on the floor, Smith gave her teammates credit when asked about her assists record.

 "Shout-out to all my teammates over the years," Smith said. "I'm extremely blessed and thankful."

Meanwhile, Smith's teammates were thrilled for her. Emily Hartegan (Wylie, Texas/Wylie East), who has been on the receiving end of many a Smith assist, smiled from ear to ear when asked about the accomplishment.

"She's helped shape this program into what it is now," Hartegan said, "and she's done a lot for us."

Catch MSU Denver's all-time assists leader in action tomorrow night at the Auraria Event Center as the Roadrunners take on New Mexico Highlands (4-13, 2-8 and T-13^th RMAC) at 5 p.m. MT.