Numbers Aren’t Everything For the Mavericks

The scoreboard read CMU 69 ; MSU 65. It's the only numbers that matter, and the Colorado Mesa University Mavericks are headed to the NCAA Elite 8 for the first time in school history. Monday's South Central Regional Championship Game against Midwestern State, from Wichita Falls, Texas,  was clearly the toughest game the Mavericks played this season, and by no means was it their best game of the year.Here are some of the other numbers - that don't matter. The Mavericks for the season were shooting 35% from three point range. In this game they could manage just two successful three point shots out of 18 attempts  - a paltry 11%. They did not make a three point shot in the second half in nine attempts.

Prior to the regional, the Mavericks had been out rebounded by only three teams all season. In this game, the Mavericks lost the rebounding battle by a large margin:41-25, giving up 15 offensive boards.

But the Mavericks hit on 21-25 free throws and overall shot over 43% from the field.

We have come to expect the offensive output of seniors Kelsey Sigl and Katrina Selsor, who scored 24 and 12 points respectively.  And it was junior Sharaya Selsor's lay up that ended up being the winning bucket of the game, and her two free throws that sealed the win in the final second.But it was senior Bruna Deichmann, from Brazil, who's career night may have been the difference. Deichmann averages about 10 points a game. But, on this night she sprang for a career high 21 points in 31 minutes of playing time.

Another factor was the sixth man - more than 1900 screaming Mavericks fans who were louder this night than they had been all season long. It was great to see the community supporting the Mavericks through the RMAC Shootout and again in the Regional.The result was for the second week in a row the Mavericks were cutting down the nets at Brownson Arena.

It's the first regional title every for Mavericks basketball and the women have the best record in school history at 31-1. Only 8 teams remain alive in the NCAA  Division II Tournament.

The Mavericks will face Dowling College next Tuesday at 1:30 in San Antonio, Texas. You can hear the came on the radio on AM 1230 KEXO and on line at kexo1230.com.