DENVER – Rarely do two words tell the story of a game, but these two surely tell the story of Friday's Senior Night victory for MSU Denver women's basketball.

Jaelynn. Smith.

The senior guard – already a legend in the making – registered just the second triple double in Roadrunners' women's hoops history with an 18-point, 10-rebound, 14-assist, four-steal performance in a 71-59 home win over Chadron State.

"I'm willing to do whatever, however, whenever," Smith said following the game.

Anyone who has seen Smith play knows she does everything, in every way, at every time.

And those 14 assists? They completed the Smith suite of assists records at MSU Denver after Smith's total matched Sarah Eckhoff's single-game program record. The Denver East product now holds at least a share of every MSU Denver assists record – career, single-season and single-game.

The previous owner of the MSU Denver career assists record and the only other Roadrunner to record a triple-double – Jasmine Cervantes – was in the Auraria Event Center to see it all unfold.
"I'm really thankful," Smith said. "And (Jasmine Cervantes) was here to see it, so that was great. That was the cherry on top."

Both teams got off to a sluggish start, as the Eagles (4-24, 3-19 and T-14^th Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) led 9-8 after an offensively sparse first quarter. The buckets began falling in the second quarter, as the Roadrunners (16-12, 15-7 and 3^rd RMAC) dropped a 20-spot to take a 28-26 lead into the locker room. Smith stuffed the stat sheet in the opening 20 minutes, registering 10 points, five boards, five assists and three steals by the halftime buzzer.

Despite Smith's strong start, the Roadrunners were seemingly stymied by Chadron State's stingy defensive effort in the first half.

"Coming into the game we all talked about as a team that we can't take this game lightly," Smith said. "We just wanted to key in, and at halftime, we all took a deep breath and we were like 'okay, let's get it together, let's key in on what's important and let's finish this strong.'"

The Roadrunners responded readily in the remaining 20 minutes, outscoring the Eagles 18-10 in the third quarter to extend their lead to 46-36 then maintaining the advantage in a high-scoring fourth quarter.

The final three minutes of the game were historic.

With 2:51 remaining, Smith collected her 14^th assist of the night on a jumper by fellow senior Mikayla Gonzales (Castle Rock, Colo./Castle View) to tie the program single-game assists record. Then, with just 40 seconds left in the contest, Smith grabbed a defensive board to seal the triple-double.

As it turns out, there was a little more than a regular season-ending game at stake. MSU Denver head coach Tanya Haave must now follow through on a promise she made to her team to get a tattoo if Smith recorded a triple-double.

"She's been knocking on the door, so close all year long," Haave said. "It's just amazing. I kind of run out of words."

And that tattoo?

"Anything to help," Haave quipped. "Jaela Richardson (Saginaw, Mich./Cherry Creek (Colo.)) reminded me of that. I'm going to hold true to my word."

But Haave wants another tattoo, and the quest for that one will start on Tuesday night as MSU Denver will play at home in the quarterfinals of the RMAC/Under Armour Women's Basketball Tournament.

"I want to get another one, and that's for an RMAC Championship," Haave said.

If a second tattoo is in store, MSU Denver's incredible senior class will be the driving force behind it.

"The foundation that's been built with this group – they're leaving it better than when they found it, and boy, there's no better compliment for a senior group," said Haave. "We'll go as far as they take us, and they have taken that to heart and they have meant a lot. They're leaving a good legacy for who we have coming back."

Speaking of the senior class, forward Emily Hartegan (Wylie, Texas/Wylie East) joined Smith in double-figures with 16 points on Friday night, adding six rebounds. Gonzales chipped in six points, while senior guard Jonalyn Wittwer (Fall Creek, Wis./Fall Creek) had nine points on 3 of 4 shooting from long range.

Bree Wellington (Fresno, Calif./Buchanan), who will be in MSU Denver's next crop of seniors, had another solid game with 12 points, a career-high four steals and a career-high tying three blocks. Meanwhile, freshman Morgan Lewis (Pagosa Springs, Colo./Pagosa Springs) scored four points and grabbed six rebounds in just eight minutes. The Roadrunners shot 48.4% (30 of 62) as a team.

After locking down the No. 3 seed in the RMAC tournament, the Roadrunners will host Regis on Tuesday at the Auraria Event Center. Stay tuned to RoadrunnersAthletics.com and @MSUDenverSports on Twitter for details on the game time and opponent.