DENVER – After 20 days and just a handful of practices, the MSU Denver women's basketball team is set to resume its season Friday in a 5 p.m. contest with Fort Lewis at the Auraria Event Center.
 
"I think we're going to have to rely on defending and rebounding until we get some rhythm back," MSU Denver coach Tanya Haave said. "We'd like to get some easy baskets if we can. Because I think it'll be a grind-it-out kind of game."
 
As a team, the Roadrunners (6-4 overall, 2-3 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) have impressive national rankings in several statistical categories that would indicate they are capable of relying on defense and rebounding in a grind-it-out game.
 
They are eighth in Division II in defensive rebounds per game (30.5), 16^th in field goal percentage defense (33.8), 27^th in rebound margin (8.0), and 49^th in 3-point percentage defense (25.9), ranking in the top three in the RMAC in all of those categories.
 
Fort Lewis is 2-11 overall and 1-6 in the RMAC, and is coming off a 74-72 loss Tuesday at South Dakota Mines as the Hardrockers won their first game of the season.
 
"They're a lot better than their record shows," Haave said of Fort Lewis. "They had a tough loss Tuesday."
 
MSU Denver played one of its best games of the season against South Dakota Mines, an 80-52 victory, but that was Dec. 18.
 
"We'd like to build on what we did three weeks ago against South Dakota Mines," Haave said.
 
In between, the Roadrunners had Division II's mandatory 10-day break before having two games postponed last weekend due to COVID-19 concerns. MSU Denver has had five practices since Dec. 18, none with more than nine players.
 
"It's been a rough stretch of not knowing and having to adapt," Haave said. "It's been a drain on us emotionally. So keeping our spirits up is really key."