COLORADO SPRINGS – The Colorado School of Mines Women's Basketball team fell to UCCS Saturday night, dropping its RMAC opener 73-69 inside the Gallogly Events Center despite a career-high 22 points from true freshman Denali Pinto.
 
Pinto led all scorers and finished the game shooting 53 percent from the floor (7-13) with seven rebounds, one assist, one block and one steal. Raven Herrera also performed well with her third straight double-double fueled by 14 points and 12 rebounds. Herrera added three steals and a block to her resume as well. Ann Kollmorgen rounded out Mines' trio of double-digit scorers with 16 points. Madelene McDonald and Sammy Van Sickle joined Pinto with seven rebounds each.
 
As a team, Mines (3-3, 0-1 RMAC) notched more field goals than UCCS (1-4, 1-0 RMAC) with 23 to the Mountain Lions' 22. However, UCCS tallied 11 three-point baskets while shooting nearly 50 percent from behind the arc. The loss snaps the Orediggers' two-game win streak as the Mountain Lions get their first win of the season behind a trio of 12-point scoreres in Anna Davern, Chelsea Pearson and Abby Feickert.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The game opened with both teams struggling to find the bottom of the net. However, UCCS cracked the scoreboard 66 seconds in and never looked back. The Mountain Lions staved off Mines attack in the paint by shooting 55 percent from long range in the first quarter and 75 percent from behind the arc in the second quarter. However, Pinto provided a spark for the Orediggers with nine points in the final 6:36 of the first half as Mines went to the locker room trailing 43-34.
 
Coming out of halftime, Mines' nine-point deficit quickly shrunk to four points with a three-pointer from Pinto and a pull-up jumper from Herrera. The Orediggers' 5-0 run forced a UCCS timeout, but that would not slow down the visitors. Kollmorgen hit a jumper out of the timeout followed by two free throws from Herrera to pull Mines within one, 44-43.
 
However, one point would be the closest the Orediggers would get. UCCS stopped the Orediggers' 9-1 run with another three-pointer to make it 46-43. That would be one of just three second-half triples for the Mountain Lions, but free-throw shooting down the stretch made up the difference as UCCS went 10-for-12 from the charity stripe in the fourth quarter. Kollmorgen's three-point basket at the final buzzer would soften the blow but not be enough as UCCS completed the defense of its home court.
 
NOTABLES
- The Orediggers are 18-21 in the all-time series against UCCS.
- Pinto leads Mines in scoring averaging 15.3 points per game – as a true freshman.
- Herrera's 12 rebounds put her over 100 for her career.
- Herrera is tops for the Orediggers with three double-doubles on the season.
- Kollmorgen led all players with three assists against UCCS.
- Kollmorgen also surpassed 100-career steals with three Saturday night.
- Head coach Brittany Simpson is 98-80 in seven years at the helm.
 
WHAT'S NEXT
The Orediggers head west next Friday and Saturday to face Western Colorado and Colorado Mesa Dec. 7-8. Live stats and video of the games will be available at www.minesathletics.com.
 
Keep up with Colorado School of Mines Athletics all season long on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram using the handle @MinesAthletics.