DENVER – The second semester of the college basketball season, after a temporary delay, is set to start.
 
But first, the report card from the first semester for the MSU Denver women's basketball team.
 
At 3-3 overall and 2-2 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, the Roadrunners are positioned nicely to bid for a postseason berth in the RMAC Tournament.
 
MSU Denver coach Tanya Haave gives her team more than a passing grade, if not an A+, for its ability to win two games by a combined three points to wrap up the first semester.
 
"Winning those last two close games at home, we kept our composure pretty well and I was impressed by that," Haave said. "We were able to execute well down the stretch. We made some mistakes, but our composure was really good."
 
If there's a 'needs improvement' on the list, then Haave would like to see the young Roadrunners' reserves continue to improve.
 
"I'd really like to see our bench develop," Haave said. "We've had some games where we've just run out of gas."
 
Heading into Thursday's 4 p.m. home game with Adams State – two games, including this one, were postponed last weekend – Haave likes how her team, which is both young and new, is starting to come together.
 
"You keep forgetting it's a pretty new group," she said. "And we're gotten more time with Morgan (Lewis) – she came back and we just threw her into the fire. Getting 10 days off for the freshmen has helped them. It's a big change for them."
 
Senior transfer Allie Navarette leads the team with 18.8 points and 7.8 rebounds per game. She is one of four players averaging at least 30 minutes per game.
 
Lewis, following just a handful of practices after opting out of the first semester, played a career-high 34 minutes in her third game in six days in a Dec. 17 win over South Dakota Mines.
 
Navarette capped the last weekend of 2020 by earning RMAC Offensive Player of the Week, while Lewis was the RMAC Defensive Player of the Week for the same time frame.
 
Now the Roadrunners will be looking to recapture the momentum built just before the holiday break. Last weekend, delayed returns of COVID-19 tests prevented the game with Adams State from being played. No fans will be allowed at the Auraria Event Center due to COVID-19 protocols, but all Roadrunners games are streamed live and are available on demand on RoadrunnersTV.

After Thursday's game, they play Sunday at 2 p.m. at Fort Lewis.
 
"It would have been nice to play the game (last weekend), but we do get to make it up," Haave said. "That's just how things are now. Pivot on a dime, regroup and move on. We're actually pretty lucky. We've played six games and there are teams who have only played two."
 
MSU Denver is tied for fifth in the RMAC. Meanwhile, Adams State is 1-3 overall and 1-3 in the league. The Grizzlies were picked to finish 13^th among the 14 RMAC teams playing this season.
 
"They play hard and they are much improved," Haave said. "(Coach) Jaime Green has done a tremendous job with them. They've got some really good pieces. I'm impressed with them. I'm glad we've got them on our home floor, because I know they would be even tougher on theirs."