Box Score How It Happened
The Colorado School of Mines (0-1) women's basketball program acquitted itself admirably against perennial NCAA Division II National Championship contender #9 West Texas A&M (1-0) in a 65-42 defeat in their season opener and the opener of the Second Annual Tony Corbetta Classic.
Playing in front of the home fans in Lockridge Arena, the Orediggers got off to a slow start as they quickly found themselves behind 7-0. A senior Courtney Martin layup followed by the first three-point basket of freshman Anna Kollmorgen's career closed the advantage to two. From there though, WTAMU would close the period out on a 12-2 run.
The Lady Buffs would again put up 19 in the second period to take a 38-17 advantage into the halftime locker room. West Texas A&M's hot start was aided by the fact they shot 56% from the floor.
Mines opened up the second half with a five-point burst over first two minutes with a three-ball from redshirt-freshman Emily Bailey followed by a basket from Martin. From there the two teams played each other even as both teams scored exactly 14 points in the period.
West Texas A&M would push its lead to 30 to start the final period before Mines came roaring with a huge 12-point run that was started with a three-pointer and bucket from junior Katie Kuhn. CSM then got a pair of jumpers from Bailey before Kuhn got the Lady Buffs lead back under 20 with her second three-ball over the three-minute and 55-second run.
With only 1:49 left in the contest, the Lady Buffs did just enough to hold on for the 65-42 win.
Notables
- After missing most of last season, Emily Bailey paced CSM with a team-high 14 points. She was also 7-of-8 from the charity stripe to lead both teams.
- Big reason the Orediggers hung in the game with nationally-ranked Lady Buffs was a decisive 12-5 advantage on the offensive glass.
- In her first appearance in a Mines jersey, Katie Kuhn came up huge in getting Mines back in the game with all three of her buckets coming in the fourth period.
- CSM shot a respectable 31.3% (5-16) from three-point land with four treys in the second half.
Up Next
Mines is back in action tomorrow for the second day of the Tony Corbetta Classic. The Orediggers will take on Arkansas-Fort Smith - an NCAA Tournament participant last season – at 3 p.m.
