LAS VEGAS, N.M. – Focus. Concentration. The right mindset.
Those things are all positives on a basketball court, and when added together, can equate to an eclipse of the century mark and a 38-point victory.
That was exactly what happened for the Metropolitan State University of Denver women's basketball team in Las Vegas, N.M., on Friday night. The Roadrunners (14-12, 13-7 and T-3
rd Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) put together perhaps their most complete win of the season against New Mexico Highlands (3-23, 2-18 and T-15
th RMAC), recording their highest point total since Dec. 3, 2011 (a 109-47 win over Western New Mexico) in a 101-63 victory.
"Once we got our rhythm and tempo, we just really played well," MSU Denver head coach
Tanya Haave said following the big win. "We held them to 23 points in the first half and that helped our scoring."
After the Cowgirls scored 11 points in the first 5:25 of the game, the Roadrunners held them to just 12 points over the next 14:35 to exit the first half with a commanding 51-23 lead. MSU Denver led 21-20 with just under a minute to go in the first quarter, and that one-point lead quickly became a 22-point lead as the Roadrunners unleashed a 21-0 run over the next 7:45.
New Mexico Highlands didn't come up with its first bucket of the second quarter until 3:09 remained in the period. It's dangerous to consider a game over in the second quarter, but any effort from New Mexico Highlands from that point on was too little, too late against an MSU Denver squad that was clicking on all cylinders.
Junior forward
Bree Wellington (Fresno, Calif./Buchanan) had 14 points by halftime as part of a career-high 24-point explosion to help the Roadrunners to their third straight win and ninth in the last 12 games. Wellington went 11 of 14 from the field, helping the team to a season-high 59.7 percent shooting effort (43 of 72). She also added a career-high tying three steals.
The crazy part? Wellington needed just 21 minutes on the floor to do all of it.
"We were able to exploit (
Bree Wellington (Fresno, Calif./Buchanan)) on the block," Haave said. "They were a lot smaller than we were. Jaelynn (Smith) did a great job finding her inside."
Smith led the team with seven assists along with her nine points and four rebounds. Freshman forward
Morgan Lewis (Pagosa Springs, Colo./Pagosa Springs) continued to show her huge potential with the first double-double of her career – 10 points and a career-high 13 rebounds – while also requiring just 21 minutes of playing time to reach those totals.
Wellington's offensive outburst was key, but it takes a full team effort to score 101 points. Eight Roadrunners scored at least eight points, and everyone who played had at least four points. Senior forward
Emily Hartegan (Wylie, Texas/Wylie East) joined Wellington and Lewis in double figures, scoring 14 points in 13 minutes while missing just one shot from the field (6 of 7).
The busiest Roadrunner of the night? Sophomore guard
Mariah Schroeder (Caledonia, Minn./Caledonia), who scored eight points in a team-high 26 minutes.
"Everybody played well," Haave said. "It's great to get them that experience."
It's easy to overlook an opponent who entered the game with just two victories in conference play, but Haave preached a sense of urgency to the MSU Denver women all week.
"I think they were fired up and stayed positive and had a lot of good energy," Haave said. "It was a mindset. It was concentration. It was focus. I'm really pleased with the way we approached the game."
Friday night was the first time MSU Denver had scored 50+ points in both halves of a game since Feb. 21, 2014 against Fort Lewis.
The Roadrunners will attempt to continue clicking tomorrow evening in their last road game of the regular season, heading back north to Pueblo, Colo., to take on the CSU-Pueblo ThunderWolves (15-11, 13-7 and T-3
rd RMAC). Tip-off is set for 5:30 p.m. MT at Massari Arena.
