Mines (1-0, 0-0 RMAC) vs. South Dakota Mines (0-0, 0-0 RMAC) – Friday, 4 p.m. – Lockridge Arena [Live Stats] [Live Video]
 

---

CONFERENCE PLAY BEGINS
On Friday, the Colorado School of Mines Women's Basketball team will open its 2020-21 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference schedule by hosting South Dakota Mines in the Orediggers' first home game of the season. Mines seeks back-to-back wins and a milestone victory for Head Coach Brittany Simpson after opening the campaign with a convincing victory over MSU Denver. No spectators will be admitted, but live stats and video will be offered for free at the links above.
 
NO SPECTATORS THROUGH THE END OF 2020
Spectators will be not allowed to attend any Mines game – home or away – at least through the end of December due to local and state guidelines in Jefferson and Denver counties. Mines Athletics will continue to re-evaluate this policy for home games in the future as conditions allow. In the meantime, all games home and away are streamed live and for free on the RMAC Network, which is also available on the AppleTV, Roku, and AmazonFire app stores.
 
ALL THE CHANGES
The mantra for this season is "be prepared for anything." That certainly has been the case even before Mines has begun play as several schedule changes have occurred. The Orediggers' originally scheduled opening weekend at Chadron State and Black Hills State has been rescheduled for Jan. 3-4. Tuesday's game at Regis was moved to Thursday, Dec. 10, at 4 p.m. at Regis. Additionally, this weekend's game with South Dakota Mines was flipped from being in Rapid City. The Orediggers will now make the return trip on Jan. 16. More changes are likely to come and will be announced at www.minesathletics.com and on Twitter at @MinesWBB.
 
GROUND RULES
In late November, the RMAC released information about the season structure and return-to-play guidelines for basketball. All teams will have a 22-game conference schedule (non-conference play being optional), and any game that is not played due to COVID-19 issues will be declared a "no contest." All student-athletes and team support staff must test negative within 72 hours of the game, and in the state of Colorado, everyone in the arena will wear a mask except for the 10 active players on the court. An RMAC champion will be declared if at least five teams complete 50 percent of their originally approved schedule (11 games). The champion and RMAC Tournament qualifiers will be determined by use of the NCAA Division II RPI system.
 
OPENING STATEMENT
Mines' women played their 2020-21 opener last Saturday and used a strong second half to fuel a 75-49 win at MSU Denver. The highlight of the victory was Ashley Steffeck's 10 steals which broke the program's single-game record – previously set over 30 years ago. Steffeck also led all scorers with 15 points for the first double-double of her career. Other top scorers included Courtney Stanton with 13 points, Sammy Van Sickle with 12 points and Denali Pinto scoring 11 points. Pinto's 11 points came in just eight minutes of action along with four rebounds and one steal. The team's combined performance produced one of the Orediggers' best season openers in recent history. Mines' 75 points were the most on opening day since 2012 when the Orediggers dropped 80 on #22-ranked Alaska Anchorage. It was also the program's largest margin of victory in season opener since defeating Johnson & Wales, 98-24, in 2005. Furthermore, it extended the Orediggers' winning streak against MSU Denver to four games and marked Mines' second-largest all-time win over the Roadrunners – just one point shy of the 60-33, 27-point victory in 1983.
 
MEET SOUTH DAKOTA MINES
Like every other school in the country, South Dakota Mines has had several schedule rearrangements. That has led to this Friday serving as the Hardrockers' season opener. What that means is there is not much to scout. What we can tell you is SDSMT graduated several seniors from a team that made the RMAC Tournament for the first time in a while. One of those seniors was Sami Steffeck – sister of Oredigger sophomore Ashley Steffeck. However, Ryan Weiss returns for the Hardrockers and brings her 16.9 points per game and sharpshooting ways along with her. Weiss is one of five returners including Naomi Hidalgo who averaged nearly 7.0 points and 4.2 rebounds per game. South Dakota Mines also added seven newcomers in the offseason. In 2019-20, SDSMT went 15-12 overall and 13-9 in RMAC play thanks to a season split with the Orediggers. The Hardrockers also advanced to their third-ever conference tournament with their highest seeding in program history.
 
WHAT'S A HARDROCKER?
As stated last week, these early previews will get back to basics on the nicknames of Mines' opponents. The institution formerly known as South Dakota School of Mines & Technology made a rebrand over the summer. Now, the engineering school up north prefers the simplified moniker of South Dakota Mines. It's a little confusing since the main website is still sdsmt.com, but it's what they want. Either way, Hardrockers is still the nickname of the school's athletic programs which arguably raises some confusion as well. A Hardrocker is a miner engaged or skilled at working hard rock as distinct from coal or sedimentary deposits. We just aren't sure what hard rock they're working. We'd assume it's probably the granite of Mt. Rushmore, but we'd rather avoid any assumptions all together. It would seem this is a good place to end.
 
SERIES HISTORY
Colorado School of Mines and South Dakota Mines have only played each other 11 times in women's basketball. The Orediggers trail the all-time series, 5-6. However, since the Hardrockers officially joined the RMAC in 2014, Colorado School of Mines holds a 5-4 advantage. Last season's series featured an odd split where the Orediggers won a 77-75 overtime thriller in Rapid City before dropping the home edition on Senior Night. While splitting seems to be a theme, Colorado School of Mines does boast a 78-56 victory from Jan. 18, 2019, in Golden. It should come as no surprise that Denali Pinto has found the most success against the Hardrockers among active Orediggers. In fact, Pinto has increased her scoring against SDSMT with each meeting. She has scored 16 points, 25 points, 28 points, and 31 points – in that order. For those attempting the mental math, we'll save you the headache. That is exactly 100 points for Pinto when playing South Dakota Mines for an average of 25.0 points per game. We could go on, but this is long enough already. The author's many thanks if you actually read this far.
 
RMAC DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
On Wednesday, Ashley Steffeck was named RMAC Defensive Player of the Week for the first time in her career. Steffeck claimed the distinction thanks to a record-breaking effort that resulted in a 15-point, 10-steal double-double. Her steals total broke the program's single-game record that previously dated back to 1987 – over 30 years ago. The guard's 15 points also led all scorers and granted her the first double-double of her career. Steffeck added five rebounds and two assists while going 5-for-5 at the free-throw line as well. She is also the first weekly award winner of the season for Mines' women.
 
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
Making a good first impression is often touted as the key to success. If that holds true, the Oredigger women have a bright future. With one game in the books, Mines not only leads the RMAC in points per game, but also rank #1 in the nation in five different categories including: scoring defense (49.0), offensive rebounds per game (21.0), turnover margin (+22.0), field-goal percentage defense (22.0) and steals per game (22.0). Individually, Ashley Steffeck leads the nation in steals per game and boasts the highest number of steals in a single game so far this season. Additionally, Raven Herrera ranks eighth in offensive rebounds per game with four. Obviously these numbers will be difficult to maintain. However, what the Orediggers showed is their scoring can come from anywhere with four players in double digits and nine total individuals in the scoring column. Mines also proved it can play defense and take care of the ball, as shown by the 33 turnovers it forced compared to 11 committed. This could all change, but let's get the wins where we can in this wild, crazy year.
 
ONE WIN AWAY
The title says it all. Well, actually it doesn't. One win away refers to Mines Head Coach Brittany Simpson who needs just one victory to take sole possession of #1 on the program's all-time coaching wins list. Last Saturday's win over MSU Denver gave Simpson victory 133 which tied her with her predecessor, Paula Kruger. While Simpson already owns the all-time winning percentage mark for Mines' women, a victory Friday would move her to 134-98 in her career. And she's done it all in less than nine seasons while Kruger took nine full season to reach her Oredigger mark of 133-125.
 
COUNTDOWN TO 1,000
This title might not say it all, but it's a pretty easy guess for those who follow Colorado School of Mines Women's Basketball. In just two seasons and one game, junior guard Denali Pinto is quickly approaching the milestone of 1,000 points for her career. In 57 games as an Oredigger, Pinto has scored 973 points. She needs 27 on Friday to hit 1,000 and 28 to surpass. Her career average is 17.1 points per game. She also boasts four games of at least 30 points. No other Oredigger in the history of the program has more than two. And that's all we have to say about that – for now.
 
UP NEXT
If the schedule holds strong, Mines will travel to Regis on Thursday, Dec. 10 for a 4 p.m. game inside Regis Fieldhouse. The Orediggers' next home game is slated for Saturday, Dec. 12 against UCCS. Live stats and video of both contests will be offered for free at www.minesathletics.com.
 
Fans can keep up with Mines women's basketball on Twitter and Instagram at @MinesWBB. They can also keep up with Colorado School of Mines Athletics all year long on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram using the handle @MinesAthletics.