GOLDEN – Colorado School of Mines' women's basketball team overcame a furious defensive presence and several untimely turnovers late in the game to topple New Mexico Highlands 78-70 Friday evening at Lockridge Arena.
Faced with full-court pressure for the latter half of the second stanza, Mines was held without a field goal the final 4:57 of the evening and was forced into five turnovers in a span of 1:07 during that stretch. Despite a handful of anxious moments, the Orediggers never let the Cowgirls get any closer than six points, converting 12-of-14 free throws over the last 3:04 to halve the season series.
NMHU defeated Mines 84-82 in Las Vegas, New Mexico back on Dec. 1 in the opening weekend of conference play.
For the fifth time this season and first since the Adams State contest on Jan. 25, four Oredigger starters were in double figures, led by a game-high 25 points from sophomore Taylor Helbig. Helbig filled the stat line, going 8-of-20 overall, 4-of-9 on three-pointers and 5-of-6 at the stripe with five rebounds, three steals, two assists and one block.
She has scored in double digits a team season-best 11 consecutive games dating back to Jan. 12 against Metro State, and 19 of the past 20 with nine 20-point games in that span, including four straight and seven of the last 11.
Senior Angie Charchalis, the program's No. 3 all-time leading scorer finished with 16, including a game-high 7-of-8 free throws in addition to five boards, three takeaways and two assists. The RMAC leader in three-pointers (62), Charchalis has at least one three-point field goal in her last 25 games and now sits 22 points shy of Emily Dalton (2006-10) and second place on the school's scoring list with 1,381 for her career.
Junior Tory Langas added 14 points on 4-of-8 shooting and 6-of-8 free throws with eight rebounds, two blocks and two helpers, while frontcourt classmate Allie Grazulis pulled down a game-high tying 15 rebounds to go along with eight points, one block and one assist.
Grazulis' RMAC-leading 14th double-digit effort and fourth straight on the glass bumped her season average to 10.1 rebounds per contest. She is currently the only player in the conference to average a double-double on the season, ranking first in rebounding and 23rd in scoring at 10.8 points per game.
Junior Courtney Gallo tallied 11 and had a game-high three assists.
Eboni Jacobs led four Cowgirls (4-20, 4-16 RMAC) in double figures with 19 points off the bench and was the main cog to the 31-to-4 advantage in bench scoring for NMHU. China Smith collected 12 points and Morgan Lee and Alyssa Lopez both added 10.
At 14-12 overall and 11-9 in conference, Mines remains in a tie for sixth place with Colorado Christian in the RMAC classification with two games remaining. The Orediggers and Cougars lead Regis (9-10 RMAC) by 1.5 games and Black Hills State (9-11) by two games after both teams posted road wins earlier this evening. The top eight teams receive a berth in the RMAC Shootout Quarterfinals on March 5 with the top four seeds earning the right to host.
Mines can clinch a postseason bid with a home win tomorrow against Western New Mexico. The Orediggers and Mustangs tip at 5 p.m. at Lockridge Arena as part of the team's Pink Day celebration and the Play 4 Kay initiative.
