Mines (4-1, 3-1 RMAC) at Chadron State (0-2, 0-2 RMAC) – Sunday, 4 p.m. – Chadron, Neb. [Live Stats] [Live Video]
Mines (4-1, 3-1 RMAC) at Black Hills State (4-1, 4-1 RMAC) – Monday, 5:30 p.m. – Spearfish, S.D. [Live Stats] [Live Video]
 
NEW YEAR OPENERS
After 14 days without any competition, the Colorado School of Mines Women's Basketball team returns to action for the first time in 2021 on Sunday and Monday with contests at Chadron State and Black Hills State. The Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference matchups were originally slated as the Orediggers' season openers Nov. 22-23, but were postponed due to COVID-19 conditions in the region at that time. Mines rolls into the new year with an overall record of 4-1 while Chadron State is 0-2 and Black Hills State is an identical 4-1. It's a road trip that always proves challenging and will provide Mines a solid starting point for the fresh calendar.
 
NO SPECTATORS THROUGH THE END OF 2020
Spectators will be not allowed to attend this weekend's games at Chadron State and Black Hills State. The Orediggers have also announced that due to local and state guidelines, spectators will not be 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.
 
CHANGES CONTINUE
The mantra for this season is "be prepared for anything." That was certainly the case through the first month of competition. Through the first four weeks, the Oredigger women made six changes to their schedule. The only adjustments requiring resolution are the games on Sunday and Monday with the postponed contest against UCCS slated now to play Monday, Jan. 18 at 12 p.m. New Mexico Highlands opted out of the season which removed the Jan. 9 game from the calendar. Changes could continue and will be announced at www.minesathletics.com and on Twitter at @MinesWBB and @MinesAthletics.
 
LAST TIME OUT
Mines' last action on the hardwood was Dec. 18-19 at home against Western Colorado and Fort Lewis. The Orediggers narrowly fell on Friday to league-leading WCU by a score of 57-51 which spoiled a huge night for Courtney Stanton who scored 20 points with four blocks, three rebounds and two assists. Saturday saw Mines get back on the winning track with a 75-63 victory against Fort Lewis. Denali Pinto was the top Oredigger in nearly every aspect thanks to 22 points, five rebounds, five assists, two blocks and one steal. Liz Holter added 13 points and four steals while Stanton checked in with 12 points, six rebounds and three assists. The loss to Western Colorado on Friday marked Mines' first defeat of the season. Pinto's 22 points on Saturday put the junior over 1,000 points for her career. More on that later.
 
SCOUTING CHADRON STATE
Chadron State holds an overall and RMAC record of 0-2. The Eagles' season-opening loss was a 78-28 decision against #23-ranked Colorado Mesa. In their last competition before the holiday break, CSC dropped a 73-68 contest to UCCS with a comeback that proved too little too late. In the early going, Taryn Foxen serves as her team's leading scorer on the merits of 18.0 points per game. Fans should expect that output to continue throughout the season. Right behind Foxen is Bailey Brooks with 15.0 points per game. The next closest eagle averages 5.0 points per contest. Brooks is also tops on the glass at 11.0 rebounds per game to average a double-double. Foxen has 10 assists and four blocks. Brooks boasts four steals. All of those numbers are team highs through two games. As a squad, CSC struggles to score. Their current average is 48.0 points per outing. Ten assists per game prove helpful, but 34 turnovers through two contests has been detrimental.
 
THE MORE YOU KNOW ABOUT EAGLES
The nickname for Chadron State's athletic teams is the Eagles. Most commonly known as America's national bird, the Eagle is a large bird of prey with a massive hooked bill and long broad wings, boasting excellent eyesight and powerful soaring flight. At the top of the food chain, some eagle species feed on prey as big as monkeys and sloths and are able to detect their target up to two miles away. There are nearly 60 species of eagles worldwide but just 14 found in North, Central and South America. Eagles' wingspans are about 1.8 meters or nearly six feet. With such a large body, eagles' nests can be quite large with the biggest being 13 feet deep, eight feet wide and over 1 ton in weight. And now you know.
 
SCOUTING BLACK HILLS STATE
For yet another season, Black Hills State is off to a fast start with its women's basketball team. The Yellow Jackets hold the same 4-1 record as Colorado School of Mines. BHSU's only loss of the year was a 81-74 defeat at the hands of Western Colorado in BHSU's season opener. The Yellow Jackets do hold a landmark win over nationally-ranked Colorado Mesa, earning a 60-50 victory in Spearfish, S.D. Predictably, Racquel Wientjes is the Yellow Jackets' scoring leader averaging 23.4 points per game. That ranks fifth in the nation. She also leads the team in rebounding at 7.2 boards per contest. Morgan Ham is equally impressive with 19 points per game along with 10 steals and seven blocks. Megan Engesser serves as a sleeper from long range. She averages 10.8 points per outing on 12-of-24 shooting from behind the three-point arc. Long range shooting is the Yellow Jackets' strength. They rank fourth in the nation with 10.8 three-point field goals per game.
 
KNOW YOUR VESPULA
Black Hills State University claims Yellow Jacket as the nickname for its athletic teams. Sometimes mistakenly called bees, yellow jackets are actually wasps of the genera (genus plural) Vespula and Dolichovespula. Specifically, yellow jackets are referred to as social wasps meaning they form colonies, but nest above ground. While bees are only capable of stinging once, wasps can sting repeatedly and painfully. Yellow Jacket colonies/nests can reach sizes up to 4,000-5,000 workers. Their diet consists of fruits, nectar and tree sap. While the two-word spelling has become popular over time, the proper entomological spelling is as a single word, yellowjacket.
 
SERIES HISTORY – CHADRON STATE
Sunday's showdown at Chadron State marks the 65th meeting between the Orediggers and Eagles. Mines sits just five games off the series lead at 30-34 and are 8-2 against CSC in the programs' last 10 meetings. The Orediggers boast an active three-game win streak versus the Eagles and haven't lost to Chadron State since Jan. 26, 2019.  Last season's series was a 2-0 sweep for Mines. Liz Holter scored 26 in the first meeting which resulted in a 93-48 victory in Golden. Denali Pinto dropped 31 in the second meeting and grounded the Eagles in Chadron for a 63-57 win. In the same 10-game stretch that Mines is 8-2, the Orediggers average 74.9 points per game against CSC and hold the Eagles to 60.9 for a 14-point average margin of victory. The largest margin of victory in the entire history of the series was last year's 93-48 boomschlopping inside Lockridge Arena.
 
SERIES HISTORY – BLACK HILLS STATE
Unlike Sunday's opponent, Monday marks only the 15th meeting between Mines and Black Hills State. The series is dead even at 7-7 after the Orediggers knocked the Yellow Jackets out of the 2020 RMAC Tournament with a 66-44 win in the first round in Golden. Mines and BHSU have split the last four meetings after the Orediggers won two straight for their longest run in the series. Prior to that short streak, Black Hills State had won four straight. The two teams first met on Dec. 8, 2012 before BSHU officially transitioned to NCAA Division II and joined the RMAC. In the 2020-21 regular season, Mines and BHSU stole wins from each other on the road. The Orediggers found an overtime victory in Spearfish, S.D., on Jan. 18 thanks to 19 points apiece from Liz Holter and Denali Pinto along with 14 rebounds from Sammy Van Sickle. The Yellow Jackets defeated Mines inside Lockridge arena on Feb. 21 despite 17 points and seven rebounds from Pinto. Over the course of the series, Mines has averaged just over 62 points per game and found each of their last three wins by double digits.
 
OREDIGGER GEMS
With a new year, we bring a new feature to the women's basketball previews. Oredigger Gems will serve as a space to highlight moments in Mines women's basketball history in the context of the upcoming opponents. The first Oredigger Gem is an easy one. We are not above the low-hanging fruit here at Mines Athletics. Last season, Denali Pinto dropped 31 points on Chadron State. It marked her second 30-point outburst of the season and third of her career. No other Oredigger has more than two such performances in their respective careers. It also serves as an opportunity to relive the 1,000th point of Pinto's career which she scored as an early Christmas gift, right before break against Fort Lewis. Pinto entered the game needing six points to hit the milestone on the nose and she did it with her second basket. It was the second of back-to-back three-point baskets as part of a self-made 6-0 run. Pinto drained the milestone bucket with 2:30 to play in the first quarter. As referenced above, she went on to score 22 and now sits at 1,016 for her career. That ranks 10th in the program record book, just 54 back of Emily Bailey who boasts 1,070. Thank you for joining us for Oredigger Gems.
 
A LITTLE BIT OF THIS AND A LITTLE BIT OF THAT
Did you know that Sammy Van Sickle is first in the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio at +6.50. Now you do. You also might remember that Head Coach Brittany Simpson became the winningest coach in program history on Dec. 4 with a 68-53 win over South Dakota School of Mines. She now ranks first in program history in total wins and winning percentage at 136-99. Another fun tidbit is that Mines ranks fourth in the nation in total steals with 63 on the season. The Orediggers also rank seventh in the nation in turnover margin at +9.0. And that is all we have for this week. Thanks for reading.
 
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
With New Mexico Highlands off the books, Mines' next action is scheduled for Tuesday, Jan. 12 against Regis inside Lockridge Arena. It's a single game with no men's action. Tipoff is slated for 5:30 p.m. No fans are allowed at this time. 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.