DENVER – There's something about
Tanya Haave in Tennessee Orange that just looks right.
A legendary player for legendary coach Pat Summitt at Tennessee, Haave's team once again participated in the We Back Pat Night to support Alzheimer's disease awareness on Friday night. This year the warm-up shirts were that decidedly distinctive shade of orange.
"My blood has a little orange in it, too," Haave said, laughing.
And, like so many of Summitt's great Tennessee teams, Haave's team won, and won big, cruising to an 81-61 victory over Chadron State to improve the program's longest winning streak in four seasons to eight games.
"To wear 'We Back Pat' T-Shirts and to know our coach played for her, it was a really special moment for us," forward
Allie Navarette said.
Navarette, honored before the game for reaching the rare 2,000 career points plateau, had 19 points and seven rebounds, scoring eight of the Roadrunners' 20 fourth-quarter points.
MSU Denver improved to 13-4 overall and 9-3 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. The Roadrunners will try for a ninth straight win in Saturday's 4 p.m. home game against Black Hills State, which is also 9-3 in the RMAC as the teams try to break a fourth-place tie.
MSU Denver will be honoring its 2010-11 team Saturday – that version of Roadrunners went 30-3 and reached the national quarterfinals for the deepest NCAA Tournament run in program history. They also won a school-record 15 games during the season.
"It's great," Navarette said. "We have the Elite Eight team here tomorrow, and they have the record that we're trying to break. But we're trying to take it one game at a time and stay in the present. We're very happy and we're going to keep working hard."
With the four-headed inside monster of Navarette,
Jaela Richardson,
Morgan Griego and
Mya Jones once again unleashed – along with some help from
Anais Bonnemaison – MSU Denver dominated the low post, outscoring the Eagles 38-14 in the paint.
"We felt we might have that going into the game, and once the game got going we really wanted to take advantage of that part of our game," Haave said. "We did a good job of getting the ball inside. Good execution."
Griego had 10 points and three rebounds in only eight minutes of work, Richardson had eight points and three rebounds and Jones added eight points and seven boards.
"We do know we have an advantage in the post, and we try to work it inside and out every game," Navarette said. "If they double, we have kick-outs for shooters, and if they don't we have a one-on-one in the post. Our team is looking good either way."
Kendra Parra scored 12 points while making 2 of 3 from 3-point range, and
Alex Carlton also knocked down 2 of 3 from 3. MSU Denver had 11 players score.
"It's great to see people step up, and we're doing a great job of finding people where they are comfortable," Navarette said. "We're finding people and putting them in the best spot to score for our team."
Jones was particularly effective in the middle two quarters, going 4 for 5 from the field while grabbing three rebounds.
"Nobody can stop her," Navarette said. "We all know that, and she's starting to believe in herself. She's just going to keep getting more confident."
Noting a one-year layoff that Jones had, Haave likes how the 5-foot-11 junior is progressing.
"She's starting to get on a roll heading into February and March, and that's going to be great," Haave said. "It's nice to see the way she's playing at the end of January. We expect good things from her."
Said Jones: "I'm really excited, but there's a lot more work to be done."
MSU Denver has a lot more work to be done to get where it wants to go this season. But an eight-game winning streak has put the Roadrunners in position to accomplish some of those things.
"You focus on the here and now," Haave said. "You know what you've done and you're happy about it, but you have to focus on the next game. Black Hills State is next, and they are playing great."
