GUNNISON, Colo. --- The Western Colorado women's basketball team led No. 24 Colorado Mesa for the final 36 minutes of the contest, by as much as 17 points in the fourth quarter and held on for a 59-52 win to end the regular season with a seven-game winning streak.

While the victory for WCU (20-6 overall, 18-4 RMAC) doesn't change its seed in the RMAC Tournament - the Mountaineers will be the No. 2 seed - it's a key win when it comes to the South Central Region rankings as Western Colorado entered the game fifth in the rankings with the Mavericks (23-5, 19-3) at No. 4.

As for the RMAC Tournament, the Mountaineers host Dixie State (the No. 7 seed) 6 p.m. Tuesday at Paul Wright Gym. There will be a pre-game social from 4-6 p.m. near the concession stand at Paul Wright Gym with a cash bar in the HAP Lab lobby.

In Friday's win, the Mountaineers trailed early 5-4 before a 3-pointer from Samantha Coleman at the 6:46 mark in the first quarter gave WCU the lead (for what turned out to be for good) and started an 8-0 run that was capped by another Coleman 3-pointer.

The lead grew to double figures in the second quarter when Mikaela Parker scored in the the paint as she was fouled with 3:39 left in the half to make it 29-18 as the Mountaineers took a 29-20 lead into the break.

The lead was cut to as little as three points in the third quarter, but WCU eventually pushed the lead back to nine points heading into the fourth.

In the fourth, the Mountaineers opened the period with an 8-0 run capped by a Taytem Coleman 3-pointer with 6:26 to play to make it 53-36. The Mavs battled nearly all the way back as a banked in 3-pointer by Kylyn Rigsby with 22 seconds left made it 55-52, but WCU sealed it down the stretch with free throws to make the final 59-52.

Samantha Coleman led the Mountaineers with 17 points (going 3-for-6 from 3-point range) to go along with eight rebounds and a steal, Jessie Erickson had 14 points, seven rebounds, three assists and two steals and Hannah Cooper had 11 points and eight rebounds. While she scored just three points, Taytem Coleman played a team-high 37 minutes and held Colorado Mesa's top scorer Daniella Turner to 5-for-21 shooting, 10 points and five turnovers.

The Mountaineers outrebounded CMU 43-29 and limited the Mavs to 34 percent shooting from the field.

The victory gives WCU 20 wins on the season - just the third time in program history that the Mountaineers have reached that mark, and the first time since 1986-87. The 18-4 record in RMAC play is the best in terms of winning percentage since the Mountaineers went 12-2 in that same 1986-87 season. The 18 RMAC wins is a program record.

The Mountaineers also celebrated two players playing their final regular season game at Paul Wright Gym in Gabie Doud and Payton Paro.