It wasn’t too long ago that Durango native Mason Rowland wrapped up her stellar three-sport career at Durango High School with the Steinmark Award, which honors the top female athlete in Colorado regardless of class.
On the basketball court, Rowland helped lead the Demons to a 23-3 record and a 5A state semifinals appearance her senior year while averaging 17.9 points per game. She earned First-Team All-State honors.
Now Rowland, who also played soccer and volleyball at Durango, looks to help Colorado Mesa University win a Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference title.
“I will admit at the beginning of the year I was a little sad when volleyball started because I was used to just mixing it up going from one sport to the next,” Rowland said. “But now that I've been up here and I've truly dedicated my time just to getting better and improving with basketball, I couldn't be happier and I think it's really showing now that all my focus is on basketball.”
Rowland is Colorado Mesa’s second-leading scorer with 14.6 points per game, which is ranked ninth overall in the RMAC.
“In our program, we run a lot of sets,” Rowland said. “ … We run a lot of sets that will get open layups and open shots. That has helped me a lot. But also, when we get in the end-of-shot clock situations, my coach trusts me to go up top and to get a ball screen to create for myself and for others. If I can distribute great and if I can get downhill, that's also great.”
She said Colorado Mesa’s offense was an adjustment because the Mavericks have about 50 set plays, whereas Durango ran a four or five-out type of motion offense with few sets. But the adjustment led to good results, as Rowland said it’s tough for defenses to prepare for all the sets the Mavericks can run.
Rowland loves the fast pace of the college game with the shot clock, which is absent from Colorado high school basketball. The speed was an adjustment for her, but she now thrives off pushing the tempo while in transition. Rowland also excels because of how much her teammates love basketball and the winning culture at Colorado Mesa.
Growing up in Durango did give Rowland an advantage over others because she was used to long commutes traveling for away games.
“Our closest game was Bayfield and that was maybe once a year, but our conference games were four hours away when we had to drive up here,” Rowland said. “We'd play the day that we traveled, whereas now we traveled the day before. But still, I think I'm used to the travel, whereas some of my other teammates aren't. But now that we're really getting into the season, we all kind of are used to the long bus rides and going from place to place.”
Despite the Mavericks’ 9-3 start to the season, Rowland believes the team can improve defensively and be better at keeping their foot on the gas when they have a halftime lead.
Rowland started off the team’s journey toward an RMAC title with a 22-point outing in Colorado Mesa’s opening win against Central Washington. But unlike her time at Durango, she won’t have to carry most of the offensive load because she has teammates that can score the ball.
“The beauty of the game is that one game, somebody can have the game of their life and score 30 points, and the next game they have 10,” Rowland said. “We all just work so well together that it doesn't really matter who's scoring. It's just that we're scoring as a team.”
When the Mavericks’ 2023-24 schedule came out at the beginning of the year, Rowland immediately noticed that Colorado Mesa won’t head to Durango to play Fort Lewis College. The two sides will square off Jan. 26 at Brownson Arena in Grand Junction.
“I definitely was upset because it's the first year and I want to be able to go home and see all my friends and just show that I'm right where I'm supposed to be,” Rowland said. “But it's probably for the best that it takes me a year before I go home and really play my heart out.”
bkelly@durangoherald.com
