Box Score How It Happened
A strong defensive effort propels #24 Colorado School of Mines (13-2, 11-0) past MSU Denver 61-54 on the road for their 13th consecutive victory on Saturday, January 16 in the Auraria Event Center in downtown Denver.
A 24-18 difference in the paint and a 22-14 advantage in bench points enabled Mines to grind past an upset minded Roadrunners squad.
While Metro State came out with a hot hand they only led 10-9 lead midway through the first quarter because senior Courtney Martin matched the Roadrunners with six of Mines' first nine points. CSM's dominance inside finally led to freshman Cassidy Budge's jumper which gave CSM the lead which they took to end of the period, 17-14.
The second quarter started out as a defensive battle as the two teams entered the final media timeout at the 4:57 mark tied at 21. After briefly trailing, Mines took the lead back for good on a huge three-pointer from sophomore Elizabeth Tomon which was the main reason the Orediggers were able to take a 32-27 lead into the half. The half ended when Tomon found freshman Anna Kollmorgen for an easy layup to stretch the lead to five.
Junior Laura Tyree got Mines off to a strong start 12 seconds into the half with a three ball at the top of the arc. Leading 43-42, redshirt-freshman Emily Bailey took a slip screen from Tomon and buried a three-pointer, and then put in a layup a few possessions later to give Mines a 48-42 lead at the end of three. In fact, Bailey scored CSM's last seven points of the third quarter.
From there, the Orediggers kept the Roadrunners at bay as buckets from Caitlyn Smith, Courtney Martin and Laura Tyree maintained the lead at 55-49 as they reached the final media timeout. It kept looking as though MSU Denver was going to get some good looks on offense, but Mines' defense – particularly inside – was able to stymie all comers for the 61-54 victory.
Notables
- The win improves Colorado School of Mines' already program-record win streak to 13. Orediggers also lead the RMAC with a perfect 11-0 mark.
- While the stats didn't bare out her complete dominance, Courtney Martin still scored a game-high 20 points on .667% (8-18) shooting from the field. She also had a team-high eight rebounds and a block.
- Metro State shot nearly 60% in the first quarter, but seven offensive rebounds and eight points from Martin gave Mines an unlikely 17-14 lead.
- MSU Denver started to find its footing in the third quarter, but Emily Bailey scored Mines' final seven points of the quarter to hold off the Roadrunners charge. Of Bailey's 13 total points, 10 of them came in the second half.
- Of the nine players that saw minutes for the Orediggers, eight recorded at least one offensive rebound.
- Cassidy Budge also had a solid outing with eight rebounds, four points, two steals and an assist.
Up Next
Mines returns home next weekend when they host RMAC power CSU-Pueblo on January 22. A day later they then host Western State.
