Box Score How It Happened
Colorado School of Mines (7-2, 5-0) women's basketball led by as much as 20 late, but had to hold off a furious rally from Westminster as they pulled out a 59-57 victory to move to 5-0 in the RMAC for the first time since the 2009-10 season on Saturday, December 19.
The key quarter for Mines was the third as they outscored Westminster 19-6 to put the needed distance between the teams to hold on. Hold on it definitely was as the Orediggers only scored five total points the entire fourth quarter.
Up 35-31 at the break, Mines came out the gates quickly with a pair of layups by senior Courtney Martin and another from freshman Cassidy Budge to stake a 10-point advantage 2:09 into the period.
After a pair of layups by the Griffins got the advantage back to six, Martin's presence inside deterred all comers as she and her defense held WC without a bucket for 8:15, and by that time CSM had taken 57-38 lead.
Sophomore Paige Husa then put the Orediggers up 19 (59-40) with 7:12 to go in the game. Husa's basket was the last one for Mines as Westminster nearly came all the way back to force overtime, but Sicilee Williams's basket with one second left only got them within two as Colorado Mines escaped with the hard fought win.
The first half was a series of runs by both teams where Mines would go ahead and Westminster respond with a run to even the game back up.
The Orediggers opened with the first eight points of the contest before the Griffins came back to tie the game 5:35 into the contest. That was the only point in the game that Westminster would tie the game as Mines would close the period on an 11-5 run.
Westminster got back to within one (21-20) 7:48 into the second quarter, but Mines would respond with an 8-0 that was sparked by Mikaela Moore's four points. Moore then put CSM up 11 (35-26) before WC scored the last five points of the half to get back to 35-31.
Notables
- Junior Laura Tyree and redshirt-freshman Emily Bailey powered the Mines with 10 and 15 points, respectively. Tyree posted a double-double with 10 rebounds with a pair of steals and assists. Bailey posted an all-around stat line of four rebounds, two blocks and one assist and a steal.
- Mikalea Moore gave the Orediggers 10 points and five boards off the bench.
- For the fifth straight game Mines held an opponent to under 37% or less from the field as they held Westminster to 31.7% for the game.
- Speaking of field goal percentage, CSM shot a combined 45% from the floor tonight. They made 27-60 shots.
- They also won the rebound battle 41-33 which is the fourth straight game they have done so.
- Freshman Anna Kollmorgen only scored two points but she also had six assists and five rebounds.
Up Next
Mines will now pause from competition for the holiday season before returning to the court on New Years Day at Western New Mexico.
