ST. GEORGE, Utah—Besting her career high before the end of the first half, Western Oregon senior Ali Nelke recorded a career-high 15 points while freshman Tresai McCarver scored 19 to help lead the Wolves to a 63-58 win over Colorado Mesa on Saturday.

Colorado Mesa (1-1) held an early advantage at 6-4 following a pair of Sydni Brandon free throws, but Western Oregon (1-2) uncorked a 20-2 run over the final 6:30 of the opening quarter to stake a 24-8 lead.

"I'm really proud of our resilience," said Western Oregon head coach Holli Howard-Carpenter. "Bouncing back after yesterday is a testament to who we want to be as a team."

The Mavericks outscored the Wolves in each of the next three quarters and briefly took a lead in the fourth after a layup and free throw for a 58-57 edge.

Making up for her foul on the defensive end, McCarver connected on a jumper at the 4:32 mark in the fourth to recapture the lead for the Wolves. Moments later, Keyonna Jones put back a layup after a 3-point miss and Natalie DeLonge hit a turnaround jumper to push the WOU lead to 63-58 with 2:57 remaining.

The Mavericks continued to battle down the stretch with a made 3-pointer and sending the Wolves to the line. With 11 seconds remaining, CMU  generated a clean look at a game-tying 3-pointer, but the last effort bounced off the back iron where Jones corralled the board.

Icing the game, Jones converted both her free throw attempts for the final five-point spread.

Hitting 7 of her 10 attempts from the floor, McCarver went on to score 10 of her 19 points after the break while Nelke propelled the Wolves to the early lead with 13 of her 15 points in the first half. Nelke ended the night going 6 of 8 from the floor with one 3-pointer while adding 2 for 2 from the stripe and sharing the team lead with seven rebounds.

"Ali is a rock for our team and tonight she was laser focused," added Howard-Carptner. "Tresai was tough on both sides of the ball and Nat was solid down the stretch as well. We fought adversity early with foul trouble and our bench stepped up. This was a complete team win. Everyone contributed and that's how it has to be from here on out."

Western Oregon will return to action on Nov. 29 when it opens GNAC play at Saint Martin's University. Opening tip is set for 5:15 p.m. on Lacey, Washington.