Colorado School of Mines at Western New Mexico, Friday, 5:30 p.m. [Live Video] [Live Stats]
Colorado School of Mines at New Mexico Highlands, Saturday, 5 p.m. [Live Video] [Live Stats]
ROAD WARRIORS
Two straight road games in the Land of Enchantment may be just as good for the Colorado School of Mines as playing in Lockridge Arena as Mines is already a perfect 3-0 in RMAC road contests. After wins at Colorado Christian, Fort Lewis and Adams State, CSM will have no fear at either Western New Mexico or New Mexico Highlands.
SEVEN GAME WIN STREAK
Not only is Mines on a three-game road winning streak, but they have in fact won their last seven games in a row to improve to 7-2 on the season. Starting with home victories over Johnson & Wales (11/27) and Western Oregon (11/28), Mines is averaging 67.9ppg while holding its opponents to only 58.7ppg and 30.8% from the field during the streak. Junior point guard Laura Tyree is also posting stat lines of 14.3ppg, seven rebounds and 2.6apg.
IN THE RANKINGS
Those impressive victories have also earned the Orediggers a spot in the latest South Central Region Rankings. After debuting No. 7 a few weeks ago, Mines is up to No. 5 in the South Central Region with fellow RMAC teams CSU-Pueblo, Black Hills State and Fort Lewis checking in third, sixth, and seventh, respectively.
FIRST TIME IN AWHILE
So far this season, Mines has reached a trio of feats that hadn't been accomplished in quite some time. First, they won at Colorado Christian for the first time since December 15, 2012. Secondly, they beat Johnson & Wales (Colo.) 92-66 back on November 27 which is the first time since January 28, 2012 they went over 90 points in a regular season game. They then kept the firsts going with a win at Fort Lewis which was the first time they had won in Durango since 2004. Overall, Mines is 5-0 in the RMAC for the first time since the 2009-10 season – the season they made their only NCAA Tournament appearance.
MINES QUICK LOOK
Laura Tyree is now CSM's leading scorer at 11.7ppg with senior Courtney Martin right behind her at 10.6ppg. Those two are also 1-2 in rebounding with Martin edging past Tyree, 6.6-to-5.7. Redshirt-freshmen Emily Bailey and Mikaela Moore are third and fourth on the team in scoring at nine and 8.6ppg, respectively.
WESTERN NEW MEXICO QUICK LOOK
Only days after WNMU head coach Rusty Kennedy resigned, the Mustangs will have to regroup against arguably the RMAC's hottest team. At 5-5 overall and 3-2 in the conference, Western New Mexico was beat soundly in their last outing by Black Hills State, 76-47, on December 19. The Mustangs are balanced offensively with three different players averaging at least eight points a contest. WNMU is being outscored by its opponents 62.7-to-56.3.
NEW MEXICO HIGHLANDS QUICK LOOK
Highlands sits at the bottom of the RMAC Mountain Division standings at 2-8 overall and 0-5 in the league. After losing by more than 30 points against the RMAC's South Dakota schools a few weeks ago, the Cowgirls enter this weekend against Mines in a freefall. While they averaging a conference second-worst 56.5 points, Michelle Traynham has been a bright spot with a 13.8ppg average – ninth best in the RMAC.
