CMU Basketball Mavericks Face Western Colorado Rival

Three more games to go. Both Maverick basketball teams are in good position to make the playoffs. But what will their exact position be? Who will they play? And just as importantly,  where will they play? Those questions make Saturday night's meeting with Western State Colorado University in Gunnison of utmost significance.

The Maverick women this week are ranked #4 in the nation and #1 in the South Central Regional. More importantly at the moment, they are in first place in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference with a two-game lead on the defending conference champions, Metro State. Winning at least two of their last three games would clinch the regular season RMAC title outright, and assure the Mavericks of a #1 seed in the Shootout, and home court advantage throughout.

The Mavericks(22-1,18-1 RMAC) take on a Western State team(4-19, 4-15 RMAC) that is not in playoff contention, but has won two games in a row and have their sites set on upsetting the first place Mavericks. CMU won the first meeting between the teams 70-45 and leads the all-time series 49-26.

CMU Senior Kelsey Sigl  leads the conference in scoring at 18.3 points per game and was named the RMAC Offensive Player of the week after scoring 61 points in the Mavericks' two wins last weekend in New Mexico, including back- to- back double doubles. Sigl this week was also named to the Capital One All Academic Third-Team, the only RMAC player to be honored. Senior Katrina Selsor is averaging 15 points and 8 rebounds per game for the Mavericks.

The Maverick men find themselves in 3rd place in the RMAC and battling to finish in the top four in the conference, which would guarantee them a home game in the first round of the playoffs. A win this weekend would clinch at least a 4th place finish, although they still have a chance to finish as high as second place. Heading into the weekend, the Mavs trail second place Ft. Lewis by a half game in the standings.

But, wins at this point are also important in terms of the South Central Regional rankings, where the Mavericks are ranked 6th  this week. The top 8 teams in the region following conference tournaments advance to the regional tournament.

The men's game take's on an entirely different flavor because Western State(9-14, 8-11 RMAC) is in playoff contention, and  battling to get into the RMAC Shootout. Heading into the weekend, the Mountaineers are in 9th place, one game behind Western New Mexico, and two games behind New Mexico Highlands and Colorado Mines. Every game is critical for the Mountaineers.

The Mavericks(17-6, 14-5 RMAC) beat the Mountaineers 67-49 on January 19th in Grand Junction and lead the all-time series 59-30. CMU Senior Colton Burgon is averaging over 16 points a game, and was named the RMAC Offensive Player of the week after posting his seventh double double of the season with 30 points and 10 rebounds in last weekend's win over Western New Mexico.

Maverick Senior Jeff Hart this week was named to the Capital One Academic All American Third team, one of only two RMAC players to be represented.

The Mavericks return home next weekend to close out the regular season against Adams State and Fort Lewis.

(Mavericks basketball can be heard on the radio beginning at 5:15 pm Saturday on AM 1230 KEXO, and on line at www.kexo1230.com)