DENVER – The trend lines are going up for the MSU Denver women's basketball team.
 
The Roadrunners posted season bests in field goal percentage, assists and rebound margin and cruised to a 72-54 victory Tuesday over CSU-Pueblo for their fifth win in six games and their first since losing at the buzzer on Saturday.
 
"It did help to play right away," MSU Denver coach Tanya Haave said. "I thought we responded. I was really pleased. We're continuing to defend our homecourt. I think we're still getting better every game. It's great to see."
 
MSU Denver shot 49.1 percent from the field (27 of 55), had 20 assists, and outrebounded the ThunderWolves by 23 (50-27). In improving to 6-4 overall and 5-3 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, the Roadrunners posted their first win of more than seven points and held CSU-Pueblo to 30.2 percent shooting, the lowest by an opponent all season.
 
"Our chemistry is really building," freshman guard Kendra Parra said. "Every game we get better. We look for each other, play for each other, find each other."
 
And while Allie Navarette – the Division II leader in free throws made and free throw attempts who is also 22^nd in points per game and 21^st in rebounds – did her thing with 22 points and nine rebounds, the Roadrunners' other options are continuing to reveal themselves.
 
It was especially evident in the third quarter, when the Roadrunners broke away from an it-didn't-seem-that-close 34-31 halftime lead with a 26-7 burst while shooting 61.5 percent from the field. MSU Denver extended the run to 36-10 for its biggest lead of the game at 70-41 before pumping the brakes for the final 5:12.
 
"We talked at halftime about being more aggressive on defense and letting that transition into our offense," junior guard Alex Carlton said. "Once we started getting stops, kept the ball from getting into the post so easily, we started to get more aggressive on offense, too."
 
Morgan Lewis had 13 points and seven rebounds in 17 first-half minutes for the Roadrunners, and Carlton continued her steady point-guard play with 12 points on 4 of 5 shooting (including 3 for 3 from 3-point range).
 
As impressively, if not more, Carlton increased her streak without a turnover to 108 minutes – the Roadrunners have played three full games since her last miscue, in the fourth quarter of the Jan. 7 game against Adams State.
 
"I had a game with a lot of turnovers, and coach had talked about valuing the basketball more," Carlton said. "So that's been one of my biggest goals on the court, to value the basketball."
 
Besides playing turnover-free, Carlton is now averaging 9.3 points over her last four games after going scoreless in two games prior.
 
 
"Zero turnovers in three games, that's almost unheard of," Haave said. "And now she's starting to figure out where she can get her shots.
 
"I think she's pretty hard on herself, so I think she's decided to really take care of the ball. We didn't talk about anything specifically. She's just a smart player who knows that she can't turn the ball over as the point guard. What I talked to her about was being more aggressive, to score when the opportunity is there."
 
Oh, and Carlton was also the primary defender against CSU-Pueblo guard JaNaiya Davis, who was averaging 16.5 points but was held to five – three of which came on a long 3-pointer at the first-half buzzer.
 
Then there's Parra, who nearly had a double-double that didn't include points – she finished with nine rebounds and nine assists.
 
"She can do practically everything," Haave said. "And her floor game – nine assists to two turnovers – is just great. She's really starting to understand what we're looking to get from her, when to attack and when not. She was really looking for open players and passing well. To have a freshman playing that kind of floor game, it's really nice."
 
Said Parra, who scored five points: "My shot wasn't really falling, so I just looked for my teammates to score. I try to be a threat on something if I can't score. I work for my teammates."
 
MSU Denver also got more encouraging signs from its bench, which included five points and five rebounds by Gabi Lucero, four points from Tosjanae Bonds, and two points and six rebounds from Peyton Taylor.
 
"That's one thing we've been looking for," Haave said. "It was great to see Gabi Lucero step up, and I thought Peyton Taylor came in and did a great job, won some 50-50 balls, hustled and got some rebounds. Tosjanae did some good things. If we can get our bench developed, it's really going to help us."
 
Things are looking up.
 
The Roadrunners return to action Thursday at 5:30 p.m. against UCCS.