The Colorado State University-Pueblo women’s basketball team showed why it is a premier program in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference by grinding out a 65-56 win over Mesa State (4-10, 3-6 RMAC) Saturday night.

The team failed to find a rhythm to its game as Mesa State kept the game close by not allowing the ThunderWolves to stretch the lead any higher than 11.

The second half proved to be pivotal for the ThunderWolves as they held off the Mavericks attempt at a comeback. Mesa State was never able to gain the lead in the second half, only coming as close as three points.

“We expect to get every teams best shot and tonight we got Mesa’s best shot,” said junior guard Rachel Espinoza.

Mesa State was paced by sophomore guard Megan Selvidge, who finished the night with 14 points. Junior guard Katie Cupp and junior forward Courtney McCaig also chipped in 12 and 11 points respectively.

Rachel Espinoza turned in her typical day with a 23 point and five rebound night. Espinoza found her way into the lane for layups most of the night which helped her shoot a solid 67 percent (8 of 12) from the field. She was also perfect from the charity stripe going 6 of 6.

“Each of us can create on our own which opens things up. Tonight was just my night,” Espinoza said.

The win helped CSU-Pueblo (12-5, 8-1) keep pace with Ft. Lewis (18-2, 8-1) who currently leads the West Division, beating out the ThunderWolves with a slightly better non-conference record. The two teams are scheduled to face off next Saturday with first place in the West Division at stake.