GUNNISON, Colo.  Western Colorado needed overtime to Thursday night to down visiting Metropolitan State University Denver, edging out the Roadrunners 71-68 in a Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference women's basketball game at Paul Wright Gym.

Ivey Schmidt scored nine of the Mountaineers' 12 points in the extra period to ensure the harrowing victory.

Schmidt's 26-point night would push her over the 1,000-point plateau for her career.

JUST THE FACTS
Final score: Western def. MSU Denver, 71-68 OT
Records: Western 4-3 overall (2-1 RMAC), MSU Denver 2-8 (1-2)
Location: Paul Wright Gym, Gunnison, Colo.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• After pushing past the Roadrunners' fast start to the game, Western maintained the advantage on the scoreboard until the final shot of the fourth quarter, which sent the game into overtime.
• Trailing 11-4 with 4:12 to play in the first quarter, Western went on a 13-0 run that ran over into the early moments of the second quarter to take the lead for nearly every minute of regulation time.
• Penelope Urquhart's 3-pointer was the bucket that pushed Western in front, 12-11, later in the first quarter, and from there the Mountaineers would eventually push to a 32-24 edge at the halftime break.
• A Schmidt layup midway through the third quarter ballooned the lead to 41-29, and Western would finish the quarter up nine, 50-41, and looking safe with the near-double digit gap.
• Nearing the midpoint of the fourth, Jayda Maves drained a 3-pointer that maintained that nine-point margin only to have the lid clamp down on Western's basket, while the Roadrunners staged a rally that culminated in a Nevaeh Millard trey from the right corner as the fourth quarter clock was winding down to tie the game at 59-59 when the buzzer finally sounded.
• MSU Denver scored first in the extra period but Schmidt evened it up with a jumper from in close, then Alyssa Eckroth dropped in a pair of free throws to give Western the lead, 63-61.
• A Jacy Chandler defensive rebound transitioned into a Schmidt drive down the lane, where she was fouled and added two more free throws to Western's advantage.
• With time on the shot clock running out in a later possession, Schmidt drained a 3-pointer from the left wing to lift Western to a 70-64 lead, then sank a pair of free throws in the final seconds of the overtime period to ice the game for Western.

COURT NOTES

• Western would have command of the scoreboard for just over 32 minutes, holding the lead from that 43-second mark in the first quarter until Millard's 3-pointer at the end of regulation.
• The Mountaineers dominated the glass, piling up a 60-36 rebounding advantage over the Roadrunners, paced by Addison Harding's 11 rebounds and Schmidt's 9.
• Schmidt would finish with a team-high 26 points, while Maves scored 17 and Urquhart hit double figures with a 10-point night.
• Western got five 3-pointers from Maves and three from Schmidt as it hit 10 from behind the arc to just five long-range buckets by MSUD.
• The Mountaineers were consistent through the first three quarters, shooting 35 percent, 38% and 39% over those three frames, but a 20% fourth quarter allowed the Roadrunners to claw back into the game.

UP NEXT
Western will see Regis University come to town on Saturday for a 1 p.m. RMAC game in Paul Wright Gym.