The Colorado Mesa women’s basketball team punched its ticket to the championship game of the Hoops in Hawaii Tip-Off Classic on Saturday, October 31, 2026, defeating St. Mary’s 62-53 at the Clarence T.C. Ching Athletic Center in Honolulu. Pushed to the brink by a furious second-half surge, the Mavericks relied on a dominant fourth-quarter performance from Mason Rowland to secure the win, as reported by cmumavericks.com.
From a Blistering Start to a Tied Ballgame
The Mavericks could hardly have asked for a better opening statement on Halloween night. Colorado Mesa opened the game with an astonishing 17-0 run before St. Mary’s finally got on the board with a free throw midway through the first quarter. A three-point play by Sedonia Isenbart pushed the lead to 20-1, and the Rattlers struggled through a 2-of-17 shooting performance in the opening frame as the Mavericks built a 21-7 advantage.
St. Mary’s found its rhythm in the second period, stringing together three consecutive 3-pointers during a 9-0 run. Even so, Colorado Mesa maintained a 34-24 lead heading into halftime. That cushion evaporated entirely after the break. Trailing 38-24, the Rattlers caught fire from beyond the arc, hitting 5-of-8 from deep in the third quarter alone. Allie Garcia capped the frame with her third 3-pointer of the period, beating the buzzer to lock the score at 43-43.
Rowland Takes Over in the Fourth Quarter
When Elizabeth Griffin opened the final quarter with a layup to give St. Mary’s its first lead of the night, the momentum squarely favored the Rattlers. It did not last. Rowland immediately answered by burying a 3-pointer off an offensive rebound by Tamryn Blom, putting the Mavericks ahead for good.
Colorado Mesa’s defense clamped down, locking down the paint and holding St. Mary’s without a field goal for more than six minutes. Meanwhile, Rowland took control of the offense. She scored 13 of her 28 total points in the fourth quarter, sealing the victory by sinking 8-of-10 free throws in the final 70 seconds. Rowland finished the night with a complete stat line, logging 28 points and 13 rebounds across all 40 minutes of play for her second straight double-double of the tournament.
Support came from across the roster. Blom hauled in a career-high 15 rebounds—including six on the offensive glass—while adding six points. Isenbart and Jenna Krise chipped in eight points apiece, and Hallie Clark contributed six points alongside a pair of steals. For St. Mary’s, Garcia led all scorers with 19 points, powered by a 4-of-7 shooting night from 3-point range, while Raynne Malik added nine points and eight rebounds.
Championship Sunday in Honolulu
The victory advances Colorado Mesa to the tournament’s championship game, where they will face the winner of the Saturday night matchup between host Hawaii Pacific and Winona State. Tip-off for the title game is slated for Sunday, November 1, 2026, at 7:00 PM HT (10:00 PM MT) back at the Clarence T.C. Ching Athletic Center.
As bvmsports.com notes, the No. 2-ranked Mavericks entered this tournament looking to fill a frontcourt role that remains unsettled early in the season while defending the high standards of a historic 37-2 campaign that reached the NCAA Division II Final Four. After Hawaii, the Mavericks will return to the mainland to host Texas Permian Basin on November 13 and West Texas A&M on November 15.
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