Four Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference teams entered Friday optimistic about the chances of advancing past the first round of the NCAA Division II Women’s Basketball tournament. Instead, all four programs’ seasons came to a close in West Texas.
No. 1 West Texas A&M 70, No. 8 Colorado Mesa 64
Colorado Mesa shot just 32% from the floor but kept it close in Friday’s loss to South Central Regional hosts West Texas A&M at the First Bank Center in Canyon, Texas. The Mavericks (23-6) were led by guard Daniella Turner, who scored 25 points, while Kelsey Siemons hit the 1,000-point mark with a 10-point effort.
Karley Motschenbacher led the Lady Buffs (24-10) with 24 points on 8-of-11 shooting, Zamorye Roberts had 15 points.
No. 2 Texas A&M-Commerce 80, No. 7 Colorado School of Mines 74
The Orediggers (25-6), ranked No. 22 in the country, were unable to recover from a 7-3 run from the Lady Lions to start the fourth quarter. The Lady Lions were led by Chania Wright who scored a game-high 25 points.
Mines was led by Liz Holter with 13 points while Sammy Van Sickle reached double figures with 11 points. Texas A&M-Commerce (27-4) will be transitioning to Division I next year to join the Southland Conference.
No. 3 Lubbock Christian 65, No. 6 CSU-Pueblo 57
CSU-Pueblo was making its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2018, but the ThunderWolves were unable to make the most of the occasion.
CSU-Pueblo (23-9) shot 41.5 percent from the floor and out-rebounded the Chaps 33-24 but it wasn’t enough. The ThunderWolves were led by Alisha Davis with 23 points. The Chaps (27-6) extended a fourth-quarter lead to a game-high 11 points midway through the quarter. Four Chaps finished in double figures, led by Laynee Burr with 17 points.
No. 4 Texas Woman’s College 90, No. 5 Metro State 83, OT
The RMAC Tournament champion Roadrunners (22-9) fought back furiously to force overtime. Tosjanae Bonds forced overtime with a three-pointer with 22 seconds remaining, tying the game at 73.
In the extra session, Texas Woman’s College (20-8) pulled away. Sadie Moyer led TWU with 26 points, while Ashley Ingram had 19.
For Metro State, Bonds finished with a career-high 26 points, Kendra Parra had 23 points and Morgan Griego had a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds.
