DENVER – There can probably be only one negative thing about overcoming a 16-point second half deficit and turning it into a victory.
 
That's having to play the same team again, 13 days later, in the other team's arena.
 
The Metropolitan State University of Denver women's basketball team, riding a six-game winning streak that has moved it up to a third-place tie in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference standings, will try to pick up road wins this weekend against two teams it beat at home last weekend.
 
Friday it's a 5:30 p.m. game at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, the team that was unable to hold the big lead in a 60-56 Roadrunners win on Jan. 26. Saturday at 5 p.m., MSU Denver plays at Colorado School of Mines, which suffered a 67-58 defeat at the Auraria Event Center on Jan. 25.
 
"It's a redemption-type thing for both teams, because we just saw them," MSU Denver point guard Jaelynn Smith (Denver, Colo./East) said. "And especially with UCCS, and the big lead and the comeback. So it's definitely a goal for us to come ready out of the gate. We were able to dig ourselves out of a hole at home, but now that we're on the road, there's a lot of differences. We don't want to create our own problems to fix, on top of the things that are out of our control."
 
Both teams have promotions scheduled to attract larger than normal crowds – it's a "Black Out Night" at UCCS, while Mines' Lockridge Arena will host a "Rock the Lock Night."
 
MSU Denver fans are encouraged to arrive early.
 
MSU Denver players are encouraged to keep doing what they've been doing.
 
"It's about us maintaining our intensity, our mindset and our focus," MSU Denver coach Tanya Haave said. "We're going to need that, especially going back out on the road, and especially with the way the (UCCS) game went – they had a big lead and we were able to come back. I'm sure they feel like they are going to win the game, and that they need to win the game. They're one game behind us in the standings. There are a lot of things going on, so it's going to be an intense game."
 
Behind Smith, the RMAC player of the year candidate, the Roadrunners have turned around their season. Though just 11-10 overall, their win streak has put them at 10-5 in league play.
 
Smith is the only player in Division II this season who is averaging at least 15.4 points, 6.9 rebounds, 5.7 assists and 1.9 steals.
 
Despite Smith's exploits, when the team was 5-10 overall and 4-5 in the league, it looked like it could potentially be a long final two months.
 
"We just kind of came together as a team," Smith said. "Our coaches are with us and they do their thing, but we had to – as a unit, as teammates, as girls – figure out that if this is what we were going to do, then we had to give it everything we had.
 
"The second half of the season, it's winding down and everybody wants to play in the postseason. No one wants to stop playing. It's one thing to want it, but it's another thing to do everything in your power to make it happen. There was a transition at the beginning of the year. Then over winter break, when we just had basketball practice and we were hanging out together, that helped build it. Now, we're just trying to stay where we're at and keep going up. Coming together as a team played a big part of it."
 
UCCS is also 10-11 overall, but is a game behind the Roadrunners at 9-6 and tied for fifth in the RMAC. Mines (12-8 overall) is also part of the three-way tie for fifth at 9-6.
 
MSU Denver does have an extra element at its disposal this weekend – Emily Hartegan (Wylie, Texas/Wylie East) missed the first matchup with this weekend's opponents due to personal reasons.
 
That the Roadrunners were able to post two critical victories without Hartegan – an All-RMAC candidate who leads the league in field goal percentage (54.1) and defensive rebounds (6.0 per game), while ranking ninth in scoring (13.9) and second in rebounds (8.3) – is evidence of how many contributors there are on the roster.
 
"Understanding roles, and then accepting roles, and then to be able to embrace and produce in that role," Haave said, explaining how the team has developed during its win streak. "Accepting and embracing roles is the tough part."