DENVER – It has been more than three weeks, with 14 days of practices and more than one week off in between, since the MSU Denver women's basketball team played its last game.
 
The Roadrunners are more than ready to resume their season on Saturday, when they play host to Chadron State in a 1 p.m. game at the Auraria Event Center.
 
"I think we're ready to play someone else other than ourselves," MSU Denver coach Tanya Haave said. "It will be nice to play someone else. I'm sure Chadron is feeling the same way as well. It's been long break."
 
Despite its current four-game losing streak, MSU Denver seemed to be rounding into form just before the holiday break.
 
The Roadrunners suffered back-to-back one-point losses to cap their December schedule, with both defeats coming as first South Dakota Mines, and then nationally-ranked Colorado School of Mines, made the tying and winning free throws after fouls were called in the final four seconds with MSU Denver leading.
 
The results were encouraging and disappointing at the same time, and yet at this point are more or less forgotten.
 
"It was all of the above (encouraging, disappointing and forgotten)," Haave said. "The point is that we just can't leave the game in the hands of the officials at the end of the game. We should've been up by more in those games. You're always going to miss a few shots you shouldn't, but we missed some wide-open layups."
 
In a schedule that has included games with three top-10 caliber Division II opponents and three other teams that were nationally-ranked when the teams tipped off, MSU Denver is 2-8 overall and 1-4 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference.
 
But the game against Colorado School of Mines, now ranked ninth and eighth nationally, stands as the team's best effort so far.
 
"We tweaked our offense a bit and that give us a boost, and we did some things differently on defense, and that helped," Haave said. "Now we're going to have to do some things better – cutting down on turnovers, making easy shots and making plays both offensively and defensively. The last two games, we haven't been able to get a stop at the end when we needed it."
 
Sophomore guard Mikylah Espinosa is leading the Roadrunners at 11.3 points per game, while sophomore forward Brianna Sealy is averaging a team-best 7.2 rebounds.
 
Chadron State is led by returning All-RMAC forward Ashayla Powers, who averages 11.6 points and 5.9 rebounds. The Eagles are 3-7 overall and 1-5 in the RMAC.
 
"Chadron State is a scary team," Haave said. "They've really improved, and they've got a lot of different weapons. They run a lot of different stuff. We'll have to focus on what we do and do it well, and hopefully we'll come out with a victory."