DENVER – The path for improvement for the MSU Denver women's basketball team is clear.
After going 1-1 last weekend – including a frustrating triple-overtime loss at Texas Woman's in which the Roadrunners set a school record for personal fouls and matched their highest turnover total since at least 2002 – MSU Denver will look to get on track Thursday in its 7 p.m. home opener against Texas A&M-Kingsville.
"We played hard all weekend, but we've got to play smarter – 38 fouls and 33 turnovers (against Texas Woman's)," MSU Denver coach
Tanya Haave said. "And we have to play more together (only 13 assists for the weekend). So you can quantify those things. It's just some early-season things to work on."
Effort level isn't an issue at all, and that's always something to build upon.
"We've got a lot of resilience, a lot of persistence," Haave said. "We have a lot of fight in us. It would have been nice to get another win, but hopefully this will fuel us even more. We want to play 'for' each other more, instead of 'with' each other."
During the opening weekend in Denton, Texas, which also included a win over Angelo State (Texas), point guard
Alex Carlton led MSU Denver by averaging 14.0 points per game. Returning RMAC Player of the Year
Allie Navarette averaged 13.5 points and 10.0 rebounds.
Forward
Jaela Richardson was called upon for major minutes against Texas Woman's in her return to competitive action and responded with 17 points, a career-high 14 rebounds, and three blocked shots. As usual, guard
Tosjanae Bonds added defensive excellence.
"I'll tell you what,
Tosjanae Bonds is everywhere," Haave said. "Great effort. And
Jaela Richardson was huge for us Saturday night. Her experience – even though she's a sophomore, it's her fourth year – just shows on the floor."
Texas A&M-Kingsville played once last weekend, beating Chadron State at home 58-51. Chadron State is picked to finish 14
th in the RMAC, while MSU Denver was third in the preseason coaches' poll.
Texas A&M-Kingsville is picked to finish 10
th in the Lone Star, one spot ahead of Texas Woman's.
"Their leading scorer has been out, but they have quite a bit of experience coming back," Haave said.
