DENVER – The two hottest teams in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference squared off Tuesday night in the first round of the league tournament.
 
On this night, Regis was just a little bit better.
 
The Rangers won for the seventh time in eight games in fighting for a 63-56 victory over MSU Denver. The Roadrunners had won 11 of their previous 13 games, including nine straight at home at the Auraria Event Center.
 
"Most basketball games come down to making plays," Metropolitan State University of Denver coach Tanya Haave said. "And they made more plays than we did, particularly on the offensive boards."
 
Regis (17-11), the tournament's sixth seed, grabbed 15 offensive rebounds, earning critical key points with the extra possessions.
 
"They just made one more play, hit a couple more shots," said MSU Denver point guard Jaelynn Smith (Denver, Colo./East), who was named to the All-RMAC first team earlier Tuesday. "Nobody wants to lose and nobody wants to lose at home. It wasn't the ideal thing."
 
Smith had 22 points, seven rebounds, four assists and five steals, capping off one of the most dominant single-season performances in league history while permanently etching her name in the top 10 of every major career statistical category in program history.
 
Smith and fellow seniors Emily Hartegan (Wylie, Texas/Wylie East) (10 points, 11 rebounds), Mikayla Gonzales (Castle Rock, Colo./Castle View) (eight points) and Jonalyn Wittwer (Fall Creek, Wis./Fall Creek) (five points) combined for 45 of the Roadrunners' 56 points and 23 of their 35 rebounds.
 
"We've got a lot of build on from our seniors," Haave said. "We've got a great core coming back, but we're losing a lot."
 
MSU Denver (16-13), despite the late season push that gave them sole possession of third place, hasn't cracked the regional rankings and thus has had its season almost certainly come to an end.
 
But the dramatic turnaround that saw the Roadrunners go 13-4 to close the regular season won't be forgotten.
 
"We made so much progress this year," Haave said. "We did a great job getting a homecourt game. Unfortunately we didn't make all the plays we needed to make.
 
"We're grateful for our seniors. This was a fun team to coach. Even though we struggled at the beginning of the year, we really came together. I haven't seen a senior class grow and develop more during the course of a season. I'm just so proud of them as players and as people. And I told them all I loved them."
 
Both Smith and Hartegan, who was also an All-RMAC first-team pick who will have a lasting impact on the school record book, described their careers as being part of a family.
 
"What they've done for me, what we've done together, it's something I'm never going to forget," Smith said. "I'll carry that with me forever."
 
Said Hartegan, a fifth-year senior: "I was blessed to be here for an extra year. This is my family."