GUNNISON, Colo.  Western Colorado women's basketball hosts its final regular season home game Tuesday against Westminster University before hitting the road for Saturday afternoon's matinee against host and league leader Colorado Mesa University to close out the regular season.

The Mountaineers sit second in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference standings with a two-game lead – and head-to-head advantage – over the two teams tied for third place. This assures Western of a home game in the opening round of the RMAC tournament.

Tuesday's game against the Griffins will be Western's Senior Night as the program will recognize Rachel Cockman, Rachel Novak, Brooklyn Seymour and Jayde Tschritter in a brief pre-game ceremony.

THE HISTORY

• Westminster is 16-8 in the series history with Western, but the Mountaineers have won the last three, including an 83-43 victory on Jan. 16 on the Griffins' home court.
• Mesa has a 59-14 record all-time against the Mountaineers. The most recent Western win was on Jan. 28, 2023 (61-60). Earlier this season the Mountaineers missed a jumper in the final seconds in a 62-60 loss to the visiting Mavericks.

WESTERN COLORADO HEADING INTO THE WEEK | LEADERS & STATS

• The Mountaineers – 19-6 overall, 14-4 RMAC – carry a six-game winning streak into the game against Westminster, having scored 80 or more points in three of the last four games.
• Scoring leader Ivey Schmidt (12.9 PPG) has registered 19 or more points in four of the victories in the winning streak, while Cockman (12.6 PPG) has hit double figures in five of those wins, including a 24 point-11 rebound effort on Feb. 15 at Fort Lewis College for her sixth double-double of the season.
• Western averages 65.4 PPG with a +9.2 scoring margin and lead the league in rebounding at 40.8 RPG and a +9.2 rebounding margin.
• Cockman (7.2 RPG) and Schmidt (5.9), along with Seymour (5), have been the team leaders off the glass.
• The long-range sharpshooters for Western are the dynamic duo of Tschritter and Jayda Maves. Tschritter has canned 43 3-pointers while Maves has dropped in 42.

WESTMINSTER HEADING INTO THE WEEK | LEADERS & STATS

• The Griffins come into Paul Wright Gym with a 6-19 overall record and a 5-13 mark in league play. They are coming off a week in which they lost to visiting Black Hills State but earned an RMAC win Saturday over visiting Chadron State.
• Westminster is averaging 56.2 PPG, with a minus-14.8 scoring margin. Teuila Nawahine is the leading scorer with an 11.8 PPG average.
• Maunayia Harrigfeld is the team's leading rebounder, averaging 10.2 per game for a squad averaging 37.1 RPG.
• Nawahine is the top 3-point shooter for the Griffins with 26 triples, while Harrigfeld controls the offensive attack with a team-high 55 assists.

COLORDO MESA HEADING INTO THE WEEKEND | LEADERS & STATS

• The Mavericks have won 14 straight since a Dec. 20 loss to then-No. 8 Pittsburg State. Mesa is 21-4 overall and 16-2 in the RMAC heading into a Thursday home game against Westminster before hosting Western two days later.
• The top scoring team in the league, the Mavs average 72.0 PPG with a league-best +14.3 scoring margin and are hitting 33% of their 3-point shots. Off the glass, Mesa is coming down with 37.7 RPG (+6.2 reb. margin).
• Olivia Reed is second in the league in scoring with an average of 22.8 PPG. She is also second in the RMAC in rebounding at 10.9 per game.
• Three other Mavericks are averaging double figures in scoring, including Mason Rowland (15.7 PPG), Riley Hayes (13.2) and Kylie Kravig (10.8). Hayes leads the team with 32 3-poitners and Kravig is the RMAC's assist leader with 154 on the season.

UP NEXT
Assured of at least a second-place finish in the league standings, Western will host a first-round RMAC tournament game on Tue., March 4 at 6 p.m.