Mines (5-2, 4-2 RMAC) at South Dakota Mines (3-5, 3-4 RMAC) – Saturday, 2 p.m. – Rapid City, S.D. [Live Stats] [Live Video]
Mines (5-2, 4-2 RMAC) vs. UCCS (1-2, 1-2 RMAC) – Monday, 12 p.m. – Lockridge Arena [Live Stats] [Live Video]
 

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"THEY'RE PLAYING BAS-KET-BALL"
After the postponement of Tuesday's home game against Regis, the Colorado School of Mines Women's Basketball team looks to return to the hardwood this Saturday and Monday with a road trip to South Dakota Mines and a home tilt against UCCS. It will be the Orediggers' first game action in 12 days and also marks the first home game of the season for SDM. UCCS also breaks a 12-day, competition hiatus on Saturday at CSU-Pueblo before coming to Golden on Monday. Needless to say, all parties involved hope the current schedule comes to fruition. Additionally, the postponements for Mines' men make the Oredigger women the sole feature on both dates.
 
NO SPECTATORS POLICY CONTINUES
No spectators will be allowed to attend Saturday's contest at South Dakota Mines. The Orediggers also announced earlier this month the extension of the policy of spectators not being allowed at home games until further notice. 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.
 
PREPARED FOR ANYTHING
The mantra for this season is "be prepared for anything." After six changes through the first four weeks of the season, the theme continues into the new calendar year. The latest adjustments include the previously-mentioned Regis game which was postponed on Tuesday. Monday marks a makeup date with UCCS originally scheduled for December. The men's side includes postponed games against Regis and South Dakota Mines. Changes will continue and will be announced at www.minesathletics.com and on Twitter at @MinesWBB and @MinesAthletics.
 
LOOKING BACK
Extended breaks in between competition may have some a bit unsure of what happened the last time Mines played a game. The following information should help bring the past into focus. On Saturday, Jan. 2, and Monday, Jan. 4, the Orediggers made their first trip outside the state of Colorado this season. Mines ended the trek with a 1-1 split at Chadron State and Black Hills State. Sunday's contest was a 77-61 win over the Eagles in Nebraska. Liz Holter scored 22 points in the affair while Sammy Van Sickle grabbed nine rebounds with four steals, three assists and one block. Mines followed that with a 73-71, overtime loss in Spearfish, S.D. at the hands of Black Hills State. Mines overcame a 17-point, third-quarter deficit to force the extra period while Ashley Steffeck scored a career-high 21 points. Her performance led all players in scoring while Denali Pinto added 20 points as well. However, it was not enough as BHSU claimed the narrow win with quality free-throw shooting down the stretch.

SCOUTING SOUTH DAKOTA MINES
South Dakota Mines welcomes the Orediggers to Rapid City, S.D., for the Hardrockers' first home game of the season. The hosts are 3-5 overall and sit at 3-4 in conference play. South Dakota Mines' most recent action was a 72-68 road win over league leader Western Colorado. The Hardockers' other two wins came at Adams State (70-57) and against Fort Lewis by way of forfeit. Saturday marks a rematch between the two engineering institutions after Colorado School of Mines dealt SDM a 68-53 in the Hardrockers' season opener. Ryan Weiss is the individual to watch for South Dakota Mines as she leads her team with 17.6 points and 6.9 rebounds per game. The redshirt junior ranks third in the nation in three-point field goals made and seventh in the country in three-point field goals attempted. That production fuels a SDM quad ranking 20th in NCAA Division II in three-pointers made and 22nd in three-point percentage. Through eight games, the Hardrockers average 66.4 points per contest while giving up 69.0 per game to the opposition.
 
MORE ON HARDROCKERS
The first meeting between South Dakota Mines and the Orediggers brought some basic education on the name Hardrockers and the knowledge of SDM's rebranding. Fans may remember that a Hardrocker is a miner who specializes in the extraction of harder minerals as opposed to coal or softer sediment. But, what exactly is considered a "harder mineral". For that answer we look to Mohs scale of mineral hardness which was developed by German geologist and mineralogist Friedrich Mohs. This scale provides one of many definitions of hardness by seeing which minerals can visibly scratch others. According to Mohs scale, talc is the softest mineral and would NOT be mined by a Hardrocker. In the middle of the scale is fluorite, apatite (the hungriest mineral) and orthoclase feldspar – possibly mined by a Hardrocker. Atop the mineral food chain are diamonds which most certainly fall under the definition of "hard rocks". The end.
 
SCOUTING UCCS
The University of Colorado at Colorado Springs rolls into the weekend carrying the baggage of four straight postponements. UCCS hopes to break its competitive silence on Saturday at CSU-Pueblo which would be the Mountain Lions' fourth game of the season. Their mark of 1-2 overall and in RMAC play features a 73-68 win over Chadron State followed by back-to-back losses against Black Hills State and then nationally-ranked Colorado Mesa. Abby Feickert serves as the team's leading scorer thanks to 40 points in three games. She also leads the squad with 14 rebounds. One statistical bright spot for the Mountain Lions is an 83.9 free-throw percentage which leads the RMAC and ranks fifth in the nation. UCCS's scoring margin features 62 points for and 76.3 points against per contest.
 
THE PUMA CONCOLOR
Above is the scientific name for the cat known as mountain lion, or cougar. Of course, Mountain Lion is the nickname for UCCS Athletics and also the animal with the most names in the entire world. But, did fans know all of this? Females weight 85-120 pounds while males check in at 120-180 pounds. Cougars also measure seven to eight feet from nose to tail while standing two to three feet at the shoulder. Pumas can horizontally jump 40 feet while running, leap 15 feet up into a tree, climb a 12-foot fence and sprint up to 50 MPH. All of this really has the author thinking about a basketball game between cougars, but we digress. Interestingly, cougars were classified as a game animal in Montana in 1971 and can be hunted from September to April. As tempting as that sounds, this author will probably just stick to watching sports.
 
SERIES HISTORY – SOUTH DAKOTA MINES
Saturday marks the 13th meeting in the all-time series between the women of Colorado School of Mines and South Dakota Mines. It is also the second showdown between the two teams this season. The Orediggers won the contest in December by a score of 68-53 to even the all-time series at 6-6. Ashley Steffeck, Denali Pinto and Courtney Stanton scored 15 points apiece in the victory. Steffeck also added five steals and four rebounds. A win on Saturday would put Colorado School of Mines in the overall lead. Since SDM officially joined the RMAC in 2014, the Orediggers hold a 6-4 advantage against the Hardrockers, but trail 2-3 in Rapid City. Also of note are Pinto's 115 career points against South Dakota Mines for an average of 23 points per game versus the Hardrockers.
 
SERIES HISTORY – UCCS
Mines' date on Monday with UCCS will be the 43rd time the Orediggers and Mountain Lions have met in women's basketball. The visitors own a 22-20 advantage overall and the last 10 meetings have resulted in a 5-5 record for both teams. However, Mines boasts three straight wins inside the friendly confines of Lockridge Arena. The two teams last met in the 2019-20 regular-season finale which resulted in a 70-49 Oredigger loss in Colorado Springs. Mines' most recent home matchup against the Mountain Lions was a 64-61 win on Dec. 21, 2019 – the last game of the decade for any Oredigger squad. The decade-ending victory featured 22 points from Denali Pinto and a 10-point, 10-rebound double-double from Sammy Van Sickle who also contributed four assists and two blocks.
 
OREDIGGER GEMS
This edition of "Oredigger Gems" is the third in a series new to 2021. For those just joining us, the goal is to highlight moments in Mines women's basketball history in the context of the upcoming opponents. For the sake of brevity, we'll feature just one of Mines' upcoming opponents, but it's for the sake of many gems. The last time Colorado School of Mines defeated SDM in Rapid City was Jan. 17, 2020 – 364 days ago this Saturday. It was a 77-75, overtime victory in which Denali Pinto scored eight of the Orediggers' nine points in the extra period to cap off a 28-point performance, but that's not all. Sammy Van Sickle accounted for more than one third of Mines' rebounds and led all players on the court with 12 boards. To cap it all off, that meeting marked the first time that Oredigger guard Ashley Steffeck had ever played in an official game against her sister, Hardrocker senior Sami Steffeck. Ashley entered the game as a true freshman and came away with seven points, four assists, three steals and three rebounds. Not too shabby for the young gun. And now you know.
 
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.
 
UP NEXT
The Orediggers' next games on the schedule are Jan. 22-23 at Colorado Mesa and Westminster. Live stats and video of the road trip 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.