GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – MSU Denver got off to a slow start and could never completely recover Friday night in falling 70-61 at Colorado Mesa in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference women's basketball.
 
Colorado Mesa (7-2 overall, 3-0 RMAC) jumped out to leads of 22-2, 24-3 and held a 28-7 advantage after the first quarter. It was 38-10 before MSU Denver (3-6, 2-1) began chipping away, and it was still 50-25 in the third quarter before the Roadrunners put a serious dent in the deficit.
 
"We couldn't have started any worse," Metropolitan State University of Denver coach Tanya Haave said. "I don't think we were ready to compete at the beginning, and they were and they took full advantage of it. They play well at home, but we did do a good job of coming back."
 
The Roadrunners ended the third quarter on a 16-3 run to get within 53-41 and they scored the first two points of the fourth quarter to make it a 10-point game. But Mesa pulled back away and the Roadrunners' nine-point deficit at the end of the game was as close as they would come.
 
"Every time we were making a run, we'd give up a basket or make a mistake, or we missed five or six wide-open layups," Haave said. "We just need to do a better job of executing, both offensively and defensively."
 
Bree Wellington led the Roadrunners with 15 points and six rebounds, while Morgan Lewis scored 10. Jaiden Galloway had nine points, five rebounds, seven assists and four steals.
 
MSU Denver completes its weekend road trip with a 5 p.m. game Saturday at Western Colorado (5-2, 3-0).