How It Happened
It may have taken an overtime period, but the Colorado School of Mines defeated St. Edward's University 78-71 in a big victory at the CCU Event Center in Lakewood, Colo.

Mines (2-3) earned a hard-fought victory over the Heartland Conference Tournament runner-up Hilltoppers (1-2) in their final game of the RMAC/Heartland Challenge. While the Orediggers never trailed in the contest, SEU was able to force overtime before Cassidy Budge and Emily Bailey iced the game out at the free throw line.

After a defensive slog of an opening quarter, Mines really found its offensive bearing in the second period as they busted out with 22 points to take a 34-25 lead into halftime. 

The Orediggers opened the second quarter with seven straight points with buckets from Caitlyn Smith, Paige Husa and Laura Tyree to take a 17-9 advantage. With still seven-plus minutes until halftime, Mines kept the hammer down as they on another run (10-4) as Jess McGovern scored five points during the stretch to push the lead to 29-13. 

SEU narrowed the deficit back to as close as seven (29-22) with 1:28 left, but Mikaela Moore put together an old fashioned three-point play and Tyree added a basket of her own before the half was over.

The third quarter largely saw both teams play each other to a draw as the Orediggers outscored St. Edward's only 17-16. That one point difference was enough though to give Mines a 10-point lead (51-41) into the final period. 

Mines opened up the fourth quarter six straight points to push its advantage to 57-41 with 8:05 to go, but the Hilltoppers came roaring back and with a 15-0 run over the next five minutes to cut the deficit to 57-55. Fortunately, Emily Bailey finally stemmed the tide with a pair of free throws at the 3:15 mark.

From there, Mines appeared as though it had the game back under control, but SEU got a three-ball from Madison Schenck with 18 seconds left and then a layup from Shakera Barnes in the waning seconds to force overtime.

Once in overtime, some gritty defense and some free throw excellence from Cassidy Budge and Emily Bailey helped the Orediggers grind out a 78-71 victory.

Notables
-    Mines out-shot SEU .397-to-.311, and beat them on the boards 50-40. 
-    The Orediggers really made their hay in the paint as they outscored the Hilltoppers 34-17 in the category. 
-    Five Orediggers reached double-digits in scoring with Cassidy Budge leading the way with 13. 
-    Emily Bailey was the story though as she posted a stat line of 12 points, eight rebounds, four steals, three assists and two blocks. She was also a perfect 10-for-10 from the charity stripe.
-    Mikaela Moore had 12 points on 5-7 shooting off the bench. 

Up Next
Mines will hit the road for the third straight week as they head to Lubbock, Texas next weekend with showdowns against defending national champion Lubbock Christian and St. Mary's.