DENVER – Maggie Justinak made up for lost time Friday night.
 
Out since Jan. 21 with what originally appeared to be a very serious injury, the MSU Denver guard came out blazing with 10 points in her first five minutes of action in what turned into a 79-57 victory over Chadron State.
 
"I think my confidence went up," Justinak said. "That's something I've been focusing on, especially in shooting."
 
Justinak finished with a game-high 16 points and added five assists with no turnovers as the Roadrunners improved to 11-5 overall and 10-4 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference with their 10^th win in 12 games.
 
Justinak, who missed four games and saw four other games were canceled while recovering, made 3 of 7 from 3-point range and is shooting 46.2 percent (25 of 54) from 3 since going 0 for 5 in the season opener.
 
"She was excited and wanted to do well, and she did," MSU Denver coach Tanya Haave said. "And she made great adjustments defensively in the second half. It is nice to have a scoring threat on the perimeter back."
 
While Allie Navarette and Morgan Lewis turned in a double double-double (Navarette had 15 points and 10 rebounds, Lewis 13 and 10), freshman guard Tosjanae Bonds continued her dominant defensive second half of the season in an eight-point, five-rebound, four-assist, three-steal game.
 
"Steals, rebounds, knowing when to use her speed and knowing when not to rush – it was a really great all-around performance from her tonight," Haave said.
 
Despite falling to 0-12, Chadron State displayed its penchant for playing teams close most of the way.
 
"We just have to play how we play," Bonds said. "No matter what their record is, we've got to play hard and push our limits."
 
MSU Denver led 27-13 in the second quarter, but Chadron State pulled within 30-28 with a 15-3 run. The Roadrunners led 39-28 at halftime, but Chadron State got back within 39-32 early in the third.
 
Finally, MSU Denver scored the next nine points and the Eagles trailed by double digits the rest of the way.
 
"We were good offensively, but we were a little off defensively," Haave said. "I think we wore them down and we defended and rebounded better in the second half. They played hard and hung around, to their credit. They've been doing that all year and that's a credit to their coaching staff and their team, because it's a difficult thing if you haven't won a game."
 
Though MSU Denver is in a true tie for third place in the RMAC standings at 10-4, the league is using a point system to determine qualifiers and seedings for the league tournament, which starts Tuesday at the home sites of the top four seeds.
 
The league's Nos. 3 through 7 teams are tightly packed, so seedings and maybe even home court will figure to be on the line when Black Hills State (12-7, 12-7) comes to the Auraria Event Center for a 4 p.m. game Saturday. MSU Denver, unofficially, is fifth in the point standings.
 
To that end, Haave was able to get Navarette, Lewis and point guard Alex Carlton some time off their feet with Friday's game in hand. Navarette didn't play the final quarter, while Carlton played three minutes and Lewis only five.
 
"We wanted to get them some rest if we could, and get Maggie some game experience," Haave said.