GUNNISON, Colo. --- The seventh-ranked Western Colorado saw its 11-point halftime lead disappear in the third quarter against Colorado Mesa and found itself down 51-48 with under two minutes remaining in the fourth.

But the Mountaineers showed tenacity down the stretch as they scored the final five points of the game to beat the the Mavericks 53-51 on Tuesday night at Paul Wright Gym.

The victory moves Western to 10-1 for the first time in program history (passing the 1980-81 team that started 9-1) and it also marked head coach Lora Westling's 100th career collegiate victory.

The Mountaineers (10-1, 9-1) got their final run rolling with a Hannah Cooper jumper to cut the CMU (11-5, 11-5) lead to 51-50 with 1:31 remaining. After a Mavs miss and Mikaela Parker's 11th rebound of the game, Cooper drove under the basket and hit a cutting Samantha Coleman for a layup to give Western a 52-51 lead with 1:03 left in the game. 

CMU turned it over on its next possession and Cooper was eventually fouled with 16 seconds remaining - splitting the free throws to give the Mountaineers a 53-51 lead. 

The Mavs took two 3-pointers in the final seconds, but missed both as Western won their fifth game in a row.

The Mountaineers appeared they may pull away after the first 20 minutes as they held a 33-22 advantage at the break - holding CMU to 6-for-28 shooting from the field (21.4 percent) in the first two quarters.

But it was Western that started the second half cold as it went 3-for-16 in the third quarter and was outscored by the Mavs 20-8 as CMU took a 42-41 lead into the fourth before the Mountaineers rallied late to pick up the win.

Cooper led Western with 19 points while Parker had a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds and Coleman finished with 10 points and nine rebounds.

Neither team shot the ball well with Western shooting 29 percent from the field for the game (including a season-worst 3-for-18 from 3-point range) while the Mavs shot 26.3 percent from the field - going 7-for-28 from 3. Natalie Bartle led the Mavs with 15 points while Kylyn Rigsby had 14.

Western returns to action Friday as they host Regis before hosting Colorado School of Mines on Saturday.