DENVER – No style points needed. Not when you've got determination.
 
After a first quarter that couldn't have gone much worse – four points on 7.1 percent shooting (that's right, 1 of 14!) – the MSU Denver women's basketball team turned it around, took the lead by halftime, then shot 50 percent in the second half Friday night for a 52-47 victory over Westminster in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference opener.
 
It started out the way the first two games of the season went, where the young Roadrunners got off track offensively and never recovered.
 
But not this time.
 
"We're being really resilient," MSU Denver coach Tanya Haave said. "That's good growth, and that's what we're looking for, to keep getting better."
 
MSU Denver (2-4) fell behind 13-4 after the first quarter and still trailed 19-14 before scoring the final six points of the first half – going ahead 20-19 on Amanda Byrnes' fast-break layup off a nice pass from Ashlyn Yow.
 
The Roadrunners went ahead to stay at 27-25 on a jumper by Darla Hernandez with 4:05 left in the third quarter, and Yow followed up with a 3-pointer. But Westminster never let it get too far out of reach.
 
A nifty layup high off the backboard by Mariana Silva Pereira with 39 seconds left in the game gave MSU Denver some breathing room at 46-40.
 
Silva Pereira finished with 13 points, two assists, two blocked shots and two rebounds.
 
"Mariana is doing a really great job running the team and defending," Haave said. "She played well tonight."
 
Down the stretch, Yow made all four of her free throws and Silva Pereira and Brianna Sealy each made 1 of 2.
 
Sealy finished with 11 points and eight rebounds, and Yow also scored 11.
 
"We had some players have tough shooting nights, but we kept getting rebounds and kept getting stops," Haave said. "I'm proud of our resilience."
 
MSU Denver plays host to Colorado Mesa, receiving votes in the coaches' poll and ranked No. 23 in the other, on Saturday at 3:30 p.m.