DENVER – Way back on Dec. 4, MSU Denver met Westminster in the first game of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference women's basketball season.
 
Now, just over two months later, the teams will meet again. And the stakes are even higher.
 
"It's a huge game for us and a huge game for them," MSU Denver coach Tanya Haave said. "And this is why you play. It's that time of the year. Everyone is in the mix for everything (from conference tournament seeding to NCAA Tournament berths), and it's awesome.
 
The Roadrunners play at Westminster at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday. The game was originally supposed to be played on Jan. 15 but was postponed due to COVID-19 concerns.
 
In the teams' initial meeting, Westminster outscored MSU Denver 23-8 in the fourth quarter and won 62-48.
 
What's different this time around?
 
"We've got more experience, we're playing better together and we've got more confidence," Haave said. "We were a little shaky that first game confidence-wise. Playing five games in eight days (all road victories in mid-January) really helped us. I think we're road-tested. It's not ideal to be on the road for this game, but we're OK with it."
 
Including the league opener, MSU Denver started RMAC play at 1-3. Since then, the Roadrunners have won 12 of 13 games to improve to 17-5 overall and 13-4 in the RMAC. Westminster is 13-7 and 12-4.
 
MSU Denver and Westminster are two of five teams with four losses chasing first-place Colorado School of Mines (21-3, 16-2) in the league standings. CSU-Pueblo is 15-4, while Colorado Mesa is 14-4 and Black Hills State is 13-4.
 
"All the games now mean so much because we're so bunched up at the top behind Mines," Haave said.