Mines at Black Hills State, Friday, 5:30 p.m. [Live Stats] [Video]
Mines at S.D Mines, Saturday, 3:30 p.m. [Live Stats] [Video]

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LAST WEEKEND REWIND
Mines' RMAC Championship defense finally got underway last weekend, and the results were nothing short of tremendous. First, the Orediggers used a commanding 32-5 run that stretched from the second through the third quarter to defeat Chadron State, 81-62. They followed that up with a 71-56 blowout of previously unbeaten Regis University the very next night. 

RMAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
The catalyst behind Mines' blowout victories was redshirt-sophomore guard Emily Bailey who earned RMAC Offensive Player of the Week for her efforts. She dominated in every facet of the game as she averaged 20.5 points, six rebounds, 4.5 assists and two blocks a game. Against CSC, Bailey scored 20 of her 22 points in the first half as she ignited the game-defining 32-5 run. She followed that with a near triple-double of 19 points, eight rebounds, six assists and three blocks in the beat down of Regis.

MILESTONE APPROACHING
Not since Angie Charchalis (2008-13) has Mines had a player reach 1,000 career points. That could change as soon as this weekend. Senior point guard Laura Tyree is quickly approaching that career milestone as she only needs 18 more points to reach that mark. 

RECENT HISTORY
The Orediggers split this weekend a season ago as they defeated S.D. Mines, 67-46, before falling to Black Hills State, 71-54, the next night. Against the Hardrockers, Laura Tyree dropped a game-high 17 points and Anna Kollmorgen collected nine points, 11 rebounds and six assists in the victory. Against BHSU, Emily Bailey poured in 22 points and Tyree had 19, but the team only shot 34.4% against the NCAA Tournament-bound Yellow Jackets.

LONG RANGE THREAT
In her sophomore season, shooting guard Cassidy Budge has become one of the RMAC's premier three-point shooting threats. She is currently second in the RMAC with 28 made three-pointers, and is fifth in long range shooting % at .406.

SCOUTING BLACK HILLS STATE
An NCAA Tournament participant a season ago, Black Hills State is off to a rough start at 0-6. The Yellow Jackets lost to both UCCS (77-53) and MSU Denver (66-52) last weekend to begin league play. The issue is that BHSU is averaging a league-worst 50 points per game.  Sierra Toms is the team's top scorer at 9.7ppg.

SCOUTING S.D. MINES
The Hardrockers are off to a slightly better start than their instate rival. SDSMT is currently 2-5 overall with victories over S.W. Minnesota State (85-67) and Montana State Billings (83-42). Megan Rohrer and Payton Humpal are tied with a team-best 9.1ppg. In fact, the Hardrockers have six players averaging seven points or more per game.