DENVER, Colo. – Behind a career-high 23 points from Emily Bailey, Colorado School of Mines escaped with a 59-57 victory at rival MSU Denver on Friday, December 16 at the Auraria Events Center.

Tied at 57-57 with mere seconds to go, Emily Bailey dove down the middle from the three-point arc, stopped, popped and buried the game-winning jumper from the free throw line to give Mines (8-6, 4-1) a huge victory over rival MSUD (7-5, 3-2). 

Only seconds before that buzzer-beating game-winner, the Roadrunners' J'nae Squires-Horton had help to erase a once seven-point Mines lead with her game-tying three-pointer from the top of the arc. 

Even from early on, the game was all about Emily Bailey as she scored the team's first eight points of the game. A Cassidy Budge three-pointer followed by a layup from Paige Husa then put the Orediggers up 13-12 by the end of the first period.

The Orediggers opened the second quarter on a 6-0 run as Elizabeth Tomon scored four of the points to push the advantage to 19-12. The Roadrunners would respond though with a 10-2 run to momentarily take a 23-22 lead with around four minutes left in opening half. The reason it was only momentarily though was because Laura Tyree immediately put Mines back up by one the very next possession.

Then, with three seconds left in half, Tyree drove right and bounced a contest layup off the glass to put the Orediggers up 31-27 at intermission. 

Just like the second quarter, MSU Denver briefly took the lead, but just like before the Orediggers would respond with a strong run. This time, Mines took a 36-35 deficit and turned it into a 45-39 lead by the end of the period. The 9-4 run was punctuated by Emily Bailey's contested made three-pointer with 28 seconds remaining the third quarter.

The Orediggers then appeared as though they were going to pull away for an easy victory as they got out to a 55-48 lead with 4:19 remaining, but the Roadrunners refused to go away on their home court. After a 30 second timeout with 17 seconds remaining, MSUD's J'nae Squires-Horton hits a three-pointer at the top of the arc to tie the game at 57-57.

Notables
-    As mentioned earlier, Emily Bailey put up a new career-high of 23 points; one point higher than her previous high. The Dalles, Oregon native was 9-19 from the field and 3-6 from deep. 
-    Laura Tyree was the only other Orediggers in double-digits as she finished with 10 points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals.
-    Caitlyn Smith and Anna Kollmorgen each had a team-high eight rebounds.

Up Next
With a two-game win streak in hand, Mines will look to head into the holiday break with another victory tomorrow at 5:30 p.m. at UCCS.