Mines (2-0, 1-0 RMAC) at Regis (1-1, 1-0 RMAC) – Thursday, 4 p.m. – Denver, Colo. [Live Stats] [Live Video]
 

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LET'S TRY THIS AGAIN
After last week's postponement, the Colorado School of Mines Women's Basketball team will try once again to face off against the Regis Rangers. Tipoff is slated for 4 p.m. inside the Regis Fieldhouse. While the Orediggers are 2-0 and the Rangers sit 1-1, both teams are undefeated in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference action, making Thursday's matinee a very early, big game in the conference race. No spectators will be admitted at Thursday's contest, but it will be streamed live and for free on the RMAC Network. The Oredigger women are playing the second half of a doubleheader with Mines' men tipping off against the Rangers at 1 p.m. It marks the only game this week for Mines' women after their Saturday matchup with UCCS was called off on Tuesday evening.
 
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.
 
CH-CH-CH-CH-CHANGES
The mantra for this season is "be prepared for anything." That certainly has been the case. To date, the Oredigger women have moved their original season openers against Chadron State and Black Hills State to Jan. 3-4. Last Tuesday's game at Regis would have been Mines' RMAC opener, but was moved to Thursday, Dec. 10. Last Friday's actual RMAC opener against South Dakota Mines was moved from Rapid City to Golden. The most recent change for the women is the calling off of this Saturday's RMAC contest against UCCS. Both sides are exploring rescheduling options for the UCCS matchup, but no date has been announced. More changes are likely to come and will be announced at www.minesathletics.com and on Twitter at @MinesWBB and @MinesAthletics.
 
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, in everyone 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.
 
LAST TIME OUT
The Orediggers officially opened conference play last Friday by hosting South Dakota Mines in a 68-53 victory. Mines used balance and defense to get the win as evidenced by 15 points apiece from Ashley Steffeck, Denali Pinto and Courtney Stanton along with 22 steals as a team. Despite the defensive production, the Hardrockers still shot over 40 percent from the floor and from long range, but the Orediggers overcame SDM's efficiency with a big second half. Over the final two periods, the home team converted 46 percent of its shots from the floor including 50 percent from long range. Sammy Van Sickle just missed a double-digit scoring opportunity, but came up big everywhere on the floor with nine points, eight rebounds, six steals, four blocks and four assists. Also of note were five more steals from Steffeck and four assists from Liz Holter. The victory gave the Orediggers their first 2-0 start since 2012 and helped Head Coach Brittany Simpson become the winningest coach in program history. More on that below.
 
SCOUTING THE RANGERS
We already tried to scout the Rangers of Regis once this season with just one game on their resume. Now, we try again after two games played by RU. At 1-1 overall and 1-0 in the RMAC, Regis has a six-point loss and a four-point win. The defeat came at the hands of MSU Denver, 78-72, while the Rangers earned their victory over the previously mentioned Hardrockers, 71-67. Those two results make the math pretty easy. Regis averages 71.5 points per game on offense and gives up 72.5 per game on defense. Comparatively, Mines also scores an average of 71.5 per game, but holds the opposition to 51.0 thus far. Individually, veteran forward Whitney Jacob leads the way with 21.5 points per outing along with 12.5 rebounds per game. True freshman Erin Fry has also made a splash with 27 points and 19 points, respectively, in her first two collegiate contests. Not much to note on defense as Fry leads the team with four steals and Sydney Speights is tops with three blocks.
 
BACK TO REGIS BASICS
Since the initial game was never played, the original rundown on Regis still applies. In part, Regis University (formerly Regis College) was originally founded in Las Vegas, N.M. in 1877 by a group of exiled Italian Jesuits. The school later joined with Sacred Heart College in Morrison, Colo., to form what everyone now knows as Regis University in Denver. Who would've thought there was more than one RMAC school in Las Vegas, N.M.? Regis' athletic teams adopted the nickname Rangers which seems appropriate since they're defined as "a keeper of park, forest, or area of countryside," and Denver serves as a gateway to many such areas.
 
SERIES HISTORY
Thursday marks the 79th meeting between Colorado School of Mines and Regis. That ties for the second-longest series against an opponent since the Orediggers started the program in 1976. The other two rivalries feature 79 meetings with Adams State and 82 showdowns with MSU Denver. Mines trails the all-time series by a large margin, but has won three straight against the Rangers and is 6-2 in the last eight contests. The Orediggers and Regis played twice last season. One was a non-conference tilt in Golden and the other a RMAC showdown at Regis Fieldhouse. Mines swept both contests with scores of 69-55 and 75-68. The first meeting, hosted by the Orediggers, featured 20 points from Denali Pinto. On the return trip, Pinto scored 20 more and added eight rebounds, while Courtney Stanton led the team with 22 points in 25 minutes.
 
RMAC DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK – AGAIN
No, this is not a reprint from last week's preview. Colorado School of Mines went back-to-back on RMAC Defensive Player of the Week awards thanks to Sammy Van Sickle. The junior from Arvada, Colo., claimed the Orediggers' second straight honor after her eight-rebound, six-steal, four-block performance against South Dakota Mines last Friday. If you read above, you also know that Van Sickle added nine points and four assists as well. Her defensive production single-handedly kept a minimum of 20 points off the scoreboard. Furthermore, Van Sickle also moved to #2 in the RMAC in total blocks, blocks per game, total steals and steals per game. The only RMAC player boasting more steals is teammate Ashley Steffeck. As icing on the cake, Van Sickle is tied for #4 in the nation in assist to turnover ratio.
 
DEFENSE WINS CHAMPIONSHIPS
If that saying holds true, the Orediggers are sitting pretty for the 2020-21 campaign as Mines boasts one of the best defenses in all of NCAA Division II. As of Wednesday afternoon, the Orediggers ranked #1 in the nation in scoring defense (51.0 ppg), steals per game (22.0) and turnover margin (+19.50). Additionally, Mines sits #3 in field-goal percentage defense (31.2), #4 in scoring margin (+20.5) and #5 in turnovers per game (11.5). So what does this mean? It means that at two games into the season, the Orediggers make it hard to score and they take care of the ball.
 
WINNINGEST COACH IN OREDIGGER HISTORY
Colorado School of Mines Women's Basketball Head Coach Brittany Simpson is officially the winningest coach in program history. Last Friday's win over South Dakota Mines gave the Orediggers' skipper win 134 in just eight seasons and two games. The victory put Simpson alone in first place in total wins – ahead of her predecessor Paula Kruger. It was the last domino to fall for total supremacy at #1 as Simpson has long held the winning percentage mark, now at 134-98.
 
COUNTDOWN TO 1,000
The countdown continues for Denali Pinto as she seeks 1,000 points for her career. With 15 points against the Hardrockers, Pinto moved up to 988 points in just 58 games. For those struggling with the math, she needs 12 points to hit the four-digit milestone. Pinto's career average is 17.0 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 30-point games. She's also done it at the free-throw line with 252 freebies in less than three seasons. In fact – here comes a nugget for you thorough readers – Denali Pinto is the active career leader in NCAA Division II in free-throw percentage at 84.0. That would rank #3 in NCAA Division I while NCAA Division III has no active career leaders listed.
 
UP NEXT
Mines' next game on the schedule is Western Colorado next Friday, Dec. 18, at 5 p.m. in Golden. As previously stated, no spectators are allowed into Lockridge Arena for the game, but live stats and video 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.