DENVER – An MSU Denver women's basketball team coming off a big win despite playing short-handed is looking to keep things going this weekend, with road games Friday at UCCS and Saturday at Regis leading into a Tuesday home game against nationally-ranked Colorado School of Mines.
 
"Our last game against CSU Pueblo (a 58-42 win) gives us confidence," MSU Denver coach Tanya Haave said. "I think everyone understanding that that the conference it's pretty wide open – maybe a few teams maybe breaking away, and clearly Mines is. But everyone else is the conference has new rosters or injuries."
 
MSU Denver (6-8 overall) is right back in the thick of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference race at 4-4, in a sixth-place tie with 5-5 CSU Pueblo, after winning twice last weekend.
 
UCCS is 5-10 and 4-5, while Regis (9-5 overall) is in third place at 6-2. The UCCS game is at 5 p.m. Friday, with the Regis game Saturday at 3 p.m. Nos. 9 and 7 Mines (13-1, 9-0) comes to the Auraria Event Center at 5 p.m. Tuesday.
 
MSU Denver came from behind to beat CSU Pueblo, which entered last weekend at 5-2, behind excellent outside shooting by senior Brianna Bailey, who sank 6 of 10 from beyond the arc.
 
A former Division III star at Johnson & Wales before that school shut down during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Bailey transferred to MSU Denver as a student in the fall of 2020, then joined the basketball program as a walk-on at semester break.
 
Now in just over two years as a Roadrunner, she has upped her overall collegiate career total to 915 career points.
 
She's a 40.2 percent career 3-point shooter (43 of 107) as a Roadrunner, which would rank third in program history but she is seven made 3s short of qualifying. In league games this season, she leads the RMAC in 3-point percentage at 53.1 (17 of 32).
 
"I felt like she hadn't been doing what she does well, trying to penetrate when what she does well is catch and shoot," Haave said. "She's been our most consistent shooter. And she was ultra-aggressive on Saturday."
 
CSU Pueblo, which like MSU Denver played a five-guard lineup almost exclusively, didn't spend much time trying to get offensive rebounds and the Roadrunners wound up dominating the glass.
 
MSU Denver must guard against a letdown in that area in its upcoming games.
 
"UCCS is a good rebounding team and Regis has been outstanding," Haave said, focusing on this weekend. "Rebounding has been a big point of emphasis this week."