ALAMOSA, Colo. – Jaela Richardson set a school record by making all 10 of her field goal attempts and MSU Denver survived a furious second-half rally to escape with a 64-58 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference victory Wednesday night at Adams State.
 
"Any win on the road is a good win, and it doesn't matter how you do it," MSU Denver coach Tanya Haave said.
 
MSU Denver led 33-23 at halftime and 41-29 with 5:57 left in the third quarter, but Adams State rallied to take the lead late in the period as part of a 16-1 run for a 45-42 lead with 9:43 to play.
 
The Roadrunners (10-4 overall, 6-3 RMAC) righted the ship, though, as Brianna Bailey hit a clutch jumper for a 47-46 lead with 7:54 to go and also converted a four-point play after being fouled on a 3 to make it 53-46, highlighting a 10-0 burst for a 55-46 advantage with 5:20 left.
 
"That was huge," Haave said of Bailey's four-play play. "That was a turning point."
 
Adams State (6-9, 4-6) never got closer than five points the rest of the way, but the Grizzlies didn't back down either.
 
Richardson starred with a double-double of 23 points (matching a career high) and 12 rebounds. Her 10-for-10 performance broke the school record of 9 for 9 by Caley Dow at Chadron State on Dec. 10, 2011.
 
"Jaela did a great job," Haave said. "She was able to get to the rim and hit shots. She made a couple of jumpers, but otherwise she was able to rip through and drive to the basket."
 
Allie Navarette added 13 points, nine rebounds, three assists and two steals, and now has career totals of 1,964 points and 950 rebounds. Tosjanae Bonds made all eight of her free throw attempts in a 10-point, seven-rebound, two-steal game.
 
MSU Denver made 19 of 21 free throws for 90.5 percent, helping the Roadrunners survive despite being outscored 52-45 from the field.
 
The Roadrunners have made 54 of 61 free throws (88.5 percent) over the past two games.
 
MSU Denver, coming off a huge overtime win Tuesday at CSU-Pueblo, one of the RMAC's top teams, struggled with early turnovers against Adams State, which had lost to CSU-Pueblo 86-26 on Jan. 4.
 
The Roadrunners were solid through the second quarter, but struggled again in the second half, and finished with 27 turnovers, the most they have had in a 40-minute game since January, 2018.
 
"We were just tentative enough when we were dribbling that we would see pressure and pick it up before we knew where we were going to go," Haave said. "And we just had some lazy passes and were feeling a little unsure against good pressure."
 
That changed during the late run sparked by Bailey.
 
"When we were able to get into an offense and run an offense, we were able do what wanted to do," Haave said. "But we hadn't been able to run anything for a while before that."
 
After an off day Thursday, MSU Denver is set to play road games Friday at UCCS and Saturday at New Mexico Highlands.
 
"Jaela didn't play as much last night, but she stepped up tonight, and that's what we're going to need on this road trip, somebody else stepping up every night," Haave said. "That's just what it is."