Mines at #11 Lubbock Christian, Friday, 7 p.m. MST [Live Stats] [Video]
Mines vs. St. Mary's, Saturday, 3 p.m. MST [Live Stats] [Video]

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Mines season opening road odyssey continues as they head to the Lone Star State for showdowns against St. Mary's and the defending national champion Lady Chaps of Lubbock Christian. 

LAST WEEKEND REWIND
Week two of the road trip odyssey saw the Orediggers only head 15 minutes down the road as they took part in the RMAC/Heartland Challenge at Colorado Christian University. First, Mines dropped a heartbreaker to Heartland Conference heavyweight Arkansas-Fort Smith, 76-75, when UAFS' Zhanesha Dickerson hit a 30-foot three-pointer at the buzzer. The Orediggers did bounce back though and earned a 78-71 OT win over St. Edward's the very next night.

STAR OF THE WEEKEND
Sophomore shooting guard Cassidy Budge had really strong weekend on the court as she averaged 16.5 points, five rebounds and two steals a game while shooting .393 from the field and .364 from deep. The Colorado Springs native was special in the game against UAFS when scored 16 of her game-high 20 points in the second half, and scored five of them in the final minute. Budge followed that performance with 13 points, eight rebounds (four offensive) and three steals in the victory over SEU.

TOMON'S TIME
The graduation of Courtney Martin left a major hole down low for the Orediggers that was going to be tough to overcome. Insert: Elizabeth Tomon. The junior from North Ogden, Utah has been a major revelation so far. Tomon is averaging team-bests in points (13.3) and rebounds (8.8) while shooting .520 from the field. She has produced two double-doubles and has posted new single-game career-bests in points (20) and rebounds (12).

SOME THINGS NEVER CHANGE
Just as they did last season, Mines is dominating the backboards again this season. The Orediggers are out-rebounding their opponents by nearly 10 a game (48.2-to-38.8). In fact, Mines is 1.3 rebounds ahead of last year's season average of 46.9 per game. They have also pulled down 82 offensive rebounds so far for an average of 16.4 per outing.

SCOUTING LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN
Last season's undefeated national champions, the Lady Chaps may be having a bit of a championship hangover as they have already dropped both of their games to start this season. LCU fell to RMAC foes MSU Denver (67-51) and CSU-Pueblo (65-61) as last weekend's Holiday Inn Denver Cherry Creek Classic at MSU Denver. Lubbock Christian was badly punished on the boards in those games as they were out-rebounded, 44-to-25.5. Olivia Robertson is team's leading scorer so far at 14ppg.

SCOUTING ST. MARY'S
Picked fourth in the Heartland Conference Preseason Coaches' Poll, St. Mary's is off to a 2-1 start in the 2016-17 campaign. The Rattlers defeated both Cameron (81-64) and Tarleton State (65-53), but fell on Monday night at home to Texas A&M-Kingsville (63-54). Tyra Cormier is the Rattlers' leading scorer at 12ppg. While Kiara Etheridge is averaging a near double-double of 11 points and 9.3 rebounds per game.