DENVER – They say close only counts in horseshoes (and another more violent event).
 
But the MSU Denver women's basketball team was very close to sweeping two of the better teams in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, on the road, last weekend.
 
And that says a lot.
 
"The win at (Colorado) Mesa was huge for us from a confidence standpoint," MSU Denver coach Tanya Haave said. "Mesa is so tough at home. And that came after a tough loss for us Friday (at Westminster) when we were ahead for 38:05 (out of 40 minutes). But knowing that we were that close two winning both of those games, on one of the tougher road trips of the season, gives us so much confidence – especially when we really can play so much better than we did.
 
"It gives us some momentum and shows the potential of this group, which I've known we had. Now we're going to keep trying to work towards realizing that potential."
 
The schedule doesn't lighten up this weekend, as the Roadrunners return to the Auraria Event Center for their first home conference games of the season. Black Hills State (7-1 overall, 2-0 RMAC) comes to town for a 5 p.m. game Friday before the Roadrunners face South Dakota Mines (1-7 overall, but 1-1 RMAC) at 4 p.m. Saturday.
 
At first glance, MSU Denver's records of 3-5 overall and 1-1 in the RMAC may not be overly impressive.
 
However, while going 2-4 in non-conference play, the Roadrunners lost to three teams who – like themselves – were coming off trips to the NCAA Division II tournament, and to another who is expected to be among the top four in the Lone Star Conference.
 
Those four teams (Angelo State, Texas Woman's, Central Washington and Northwest Nazarene) are a combined 27-5 so far this season. And while the Central Washington loss was a blowout, the other three losses were by an average of 5.7 points, with one coming in double overtime.
 
Then came the RMAC-opening road trip to Westminster and Colorado Mesa, teams that finished third and second, respectively, in the league last year and who are expected to be in the upper half of the league again this season.
 
A buzzer-beating 3-pointer gave Westminster a 67-64 win over MSU Denver on Friday, but the Roadrunners bounced back to win 54-52 Saturday on Brooklynn Jones' 3-pointer with nine seconds left.
 
After relying on a powerful inside game last year in a late-season run that resulted in the RMAC Tournament championship, MSU Denver has shifted gears this season to a perimeter-oriented attack headlined by an incredibly deep guard group.
 
And  there are some obvious areas that will undoubtedly improve – the Roadrunners are shooting just 29.5 percent from 3-point range and 68.1 percent from the free throw line, and post players Brianna Sealy and Miza Gilberto are improving rapidly defensively while providing steady scoring and rebounding.
 
While some of the top free throw shooters from last year's team that connected 76.2 percent of the time have departed, an improvement can be expected there. And the outside shooters seem more than capable of surpassing last year's 30.8-percent accuracy.
 
"We're not shooting it great from 3, but teams aren't playing much zone against us and there's a reason for that – I think we saw our potential against (Texas) Permian Basin," Haave said, referring to a 9 of 20 performance from long range against a zone. "We're working on it, getting shots up in practice. We have good shooters, and shooters have to keep shooting."
 
Despite shooting below expectations at the foul line, the Roadrunners are getting there early and often – they've still made 124, while opponents have shot only 130 (making 88).
 
"We've been doing a lot of pressure free throw drills in practice," Haave said. "We're getting to the line more than our opponents and we want that to continue. Now we've got to make people pay for putting us there."