DENVER – After the most unusual offseason in history, the MSU Denver women's basketball team is ready to start a regular season that it hopes to be … regular.
 
"It feels like no other season," Metropolitan State University of Denver coach Tanya Haave said. "Of course, this is something that none of us has ever experienced. To say it's unprecedented is stating the obvious."
 
The Roadrunners play host to Regis on Friday at 4 p.m. and to Colorado School of Mines on Saturday at 2 p.m. at the Auraria Event Center.
 
Those two games were made official earlier this week. Last-minute schedule changes figure to be the norm for the near term as teams around the country make adjustments to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
 
On that note, until further notice, the public will not be able to attend home games at MSU Denver. All games will be streamed on RoadrunnersTV.
 
Unlike many programs, MSU Denver has been able to prepare in somewhat normal fashion due to its highly-organized testing program that started in August as well as the facts that nearly all classes are online and that there are no on-campus dormitories, limiting the team's exposure to the virus.
 
"It's been really great to be able to practice the way we've been able to practice," Haave said. "It's been great to work with our players, to watch them get better, and to see the team progress. Kudos to our administration to put things in place so that we've been able to practice as much as we have.
 
"Once we got here in our little bubble, we haven't had many problems."
 
The Roadrunners, picked to finish ninth in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference after going 13-16 overall and 12-10 for eighth in the RMAC last season, have three returning starters on the roster as well as a talented freshman class and perhaps one of the top transfers in NCAA Division II to plug into the lineup.
 
"We have some really good pieces," Haave said. "We're young."
 
Regis is picked to finish seventh in the RMAC, while Colorado School of Mines is picked to finish fourth. Both games this weekend are considered non-conference games.
 
The late schedule switch is unusual under normal circumstances, but could become much more standard in the coronavirus era.
 
"It's kind of fun," Haave said. "You just pivot quickly. We're just going to find whoever we can play, hustle and get in the games that we can get in. It's a challenge, but we're going to do what we can do."
 
MSU Denver's preseason RMAC players to watch are Maggie Justinak, Jaela Richardson and Allie Navarette.
 
Navarette is a senior transfer from Hawaii-Hilo, who – with 1,398 points – ranks seventh in career scoring among players eligible to return to Division II competition this season. The 6-foot forward averaged 19.2 points and 9.4 rebounds per game last year for the Vulcans.
 
"Allie has been a good addition," Haave said. "She's very skilled and has a good basketball IQ. Having her three years of experience has been nice. She knows what it takes to come in to work every day. She's picked up things very quickly, which you expect from players with collegiate experience."
 
Justinak started all 29 games last season and was second on the team with an average of 29.6 minutes per game while averaging 7.2 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.2 assists.
 
Richardson was basically the Roadrunners' sixth man last season, though she did start 10 games, and averaged 7.8 points and 6.2 rebounds and was among the RMAC's best with an average of 1.4 blocked shots per game.
 
Junior college transfer Alex Carlton also figures to make an impact in the Roadrunners' guard rotation, while the freshman class of guards Kendra Parra, Tosjanae Bonds and Kiely Rasmussen have also been impressive.
 
"Alex is a facilitator point guard, and she's a really good shooter," Haave said.
 
Parra was the Class 2A player of the year last season and ranks 13^th in Colorado high school history with 1,949 points, while Bonds led the state of Colorado in scoring (24.9 points per game) and is the state's all-time leader with 631 career steals.
 
"Kendra is confident in a really great way," Haave said. "And she competes. She takes a beating, and she keeps coming back.
 
"Tos is competitive, too – all three of the freshmen are. They've all been great in trying to adjust to the college game and learning how to pay more attention to detail."