Mines (7-2, 6-2 RMAC) at Colorado Mesa (8-2, 8-2 RMAC) – Friday, 5:30 p.m. – Grand Junction, Colo. [Live Stats] [Live Video]
Mines (7-2, 6-2 RMAC) at Westminster (4-1, 4-1 RMAC) – Saturday, 5:30 p.m. – Salt Lake City, Utah [Live Stats] [Live Video]
 

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BIG WEEKEND AHEAD
The Colorado School of Mines Women's Basketball team faces its biggest weekend of the season thus far as it travels to Colorado Mesa on Friday and Westminster on Saturday. Both the Mavericks and Griffins sit ahead of the Orediggers in the conference standings, and it's the first double feature with both teams boasting records above .500. Following a pair of lengthy breaks from competition, Mines continues a run that includes the Orediggers' third and fourth games in a period of seven days. The road warriors will look to turn back-to-back wins into a four-game streak and make moves up the RMAC rankings.
 
NO SPECTATORS POLICY CONTINUES
No spectators will be allowed at either contest this weekend. 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." It has proven appropriate with seven changes to date for the women's team alone. Fortunately, only one change requires resolution. That is the postponement of last week's home tilt against Regis. Both programs are still working towards a makeup date. The men's side features a slew of their own changes. Most recently, #1-ranked Mines' men postponed the trip to Colorado Mesa and Westminster until February. Changes will continue and will be announced at www.minesathletics.com and on Twitter at @MinesWBB and @MinesAthletics.
 
BACK-TO-BACK WINS
Over the last seven days, Mines earned back-to-back wins for the third time this season. The Orediggers' most recent victims were South Dakota Mines and UCCS. Mines rolled to a 66-52 win over SDM last Saturday in Rapid City, S.D. Denali Pinto and Courtney Stanton spearheaded the effort with 12 points apiece. Megan Van de Graaf also scored 11 while Liz Holter and Sammy Van Sickle combined for 18 points, 14 rebounds, 10 assists, five steals and three blocks. The second victory came on Monday at home with a an 80-47 thrashing of UCCS. Holter led all players with 17 points including 15 in the first half. Van de Graaf came up with 15 points, and Raven Herrera, Stanton and Van Sickle scored in double digits as well. Holter added four assists for good measure while Herrera led all players with seven boards. Monday's win was Mines' highest scoring output of the season so far.

SCOUTING COLORADO MESA
Colorado Mesa entered the season as the favorite to win the RMAC and ranked in the nation's top-25. However, a 60-50 loss at Black Hills State and a 71-66 stumble at MSU Denver dropped CMU out of the national rankings and put their RMAC title bid in jeopardy. That doesn't make the Mavericks any less dangerous. All but one of their wins are by double digits including a 78-28 victory over Chadron State. Furthermore, Colorado Mesa ranks third in the nation in fewest turnovers per game, fifth in assist-to-turnover ratio and seventh in three other categories including blocked shots and scoring defense. Individually, the trio of Natalie Bartle, Daniella Turner and Kylyn Rigsby lead CMU in scoring at 15.5, 15.0 and 13.3 points per game, respectively. Kelsey Siemons leads the squad with 6.6 rebounds per game and 16 blocks. Siemons' blocks numbers put her 12th in the nation and Rigsby ranks fourth in DII in three-point field goals attempted.
 
BACK TO MESA BASICS
historically, these previews have gone quite in depth on the Colorado Mesa nickname, Mavericks. However, after an extended break from head-to-head competition with CMU, we'll return to the basics to help some you newcomers catch up. Colorado Mesa was formerly known as Mesa State or Mesa State College. The institution actually used to be a junior college. As stated above, the school uses the nickname Mavericks, or Mavs, for its athletic teams. A maverick is defined as an unbranded calf or yearling. However, the term more commonly refers to an unorthodox or independent-minded person. Maverick is also the nickname of Tom Cruise's character in the 1986 film Top Gun, as well as a steel roller coaster and Cedar Point amusement park in Sandusky, Ohio. Maverick is also the title of the famous western television show created by Roy Huggins, running from 1957-62, starring James Garner. There will be a quiz.
 
SCOUTING WESTMINSTER
Westminster played just two games in January and went 1-1 after falling 71-68 to Black Hills State in WC's season opener. Since that loss, the Griffins have run off four straight wins and carry that streak into a weekend in which they face Regis and the Orediggers. Victories over CSU Pueblo, Chadron State, MSU Denver and Colorado Christian have Westminster boasting the second-best record in the RMAC thanks to an .800 winning percentage. Five different Griffins average double-digit scoring numbers with Hunter Krebs at the top of the list dropping 15.0 points per game. Sarah McGinley leads on the glass thanks to 7.2 boards per game. Most notable is WC's efficiency. The team ranks #1 in the nation in field-goal percentage, converting 54.3 percent of their attempts per game. Krebs leads that charge as well, shooting nearly 70 percent from the floor. She ranks fourth in the nation individually. Teammate Lyndzi Rich ranks seventh in the nation in the same category. Safe to say, Westminster's success runs through the post.
 
FROM PARSONS TO GRIFFINS
Westminster College athletic teams were originally nicknamed the Parsons as an ode to the school's religious (Presbyterian) roots. However, in 1979, the institution went from spiritual to mythical as it became known athletically as the Griffins. Also spelled griffon or gryphon, the school's mascot is a legendary creature featuring the body, tail and back legs of a lion while also sporting the head and wings of an eagle. It is not a real animal and seems appropriate for the school as Westminster College sports teams became mythical in 1967-68 with financial crisis forcing the discontinuation of intercollegiate athletics. The program experienced rebirth starting in the 1990's and eventually joined NCAA Division II and the RMAC in 2015-16. And now you know.
 
SERIES HISTORY – COLORADO MESA
Colorado School of Mines and Colorado Mesa have faced off in women's basketball on 73 occasions. While these previews attempt to keep a positive approach, here's the truth. Mines has won just 14 games against CMU and are currently amidst a seven-game losing streak. The Orediggers last defeated the Mavericks on Dec. 18, 2015 thanks to a 63-60 overtime affair inside Lockridge Arena. It just so happens that was part of Mines' last 7-2 start to a season and their run to the RMAC Regular Season Championship. However, not only are the Orediggers 1-9 over their last 10 meetings with Colorado Mesa, Mines has not won in Grand Junction since Dec. 12, 2008 – over 12 years ago. The Orediggers and Mavericks last met in the 2019-20 RMAC Tournament Semifinal round where #24-ranked CMU won 59-47 and ended Mines' season. In that game, Sammy Van Sickle led her team with 13 points, seven rebounds, three assists, three steals and two blocks. It's not pretty, but that's the truth and now you know.
 
SERIES HISTORY – WESTMINSTER
In comparison to the all-time series with Colorado Mesa, the series against Wesminster is opposite in nearly every way. Saturday marks just the ninth meeting between the Orediggers and Griffins. The series is even at 4-4. Neither team has won back-to-back games in the relatively new series. Mines claimed an 80-70 last season in Salt Lake City. Denali Pinto fueled that victory with 30 points while McKale Grant notched four steals and grabbed six rebounds. Overall, the Orediggers are 2-1 on the road against WC. The mark would be 3-0 if not for a 68-66 overtime heartbreaker on Dec. 20, 2017. The overtime loss also marked the last time Mines and Westminster played more than once in a single season until this year when the teams will meet again on Feb. 19 inside Lockridge Arena. That date also happens to be the author's birthday.
 
OREDIGGER GEMS
The fourth release of Oredigger Gems takes fans back to Mines' last win over Colorado Mesa with a focus on positive vibes for this weekend. As stated above, that contest was a 63-60 overtime thriller that the Orediggers won inside Lockridge Arena. Providing the gem was Mines legend Laura Tyree who holds nearly every assists record in the program record book. However, that night, Tyree kept the ball herself and led all players with 24 points on 9-of-15 shooting from the floor including two three-pointers. Did we mention she also scored 1,175 points her career from 2013-17? The Lakewood, Colo., native accounted for six of the Orediggers' nine points in overtime. She drained a three-point basket to give Mines the lead with 52 seconds to play. Then, Tyree hit three straight free throws in the last 15 seconds to clinch the win. Her final line featured 24 points, five rebounds and one assist in one of the biggest wins in her career. Once again, thanks for joining us for Oredigger Gems. We hope you enjoyed.
 
A WORD ON DEFENSE
We'd be remiss if we didn't mention the two defensive juggernauts doing battle this weekend. Colorado School of Mines enters Friday ranked second in the RMAC and 10th in the nation in scoring defense, allowing just 55.9 points per game to the opposition. Colorado Mesa welcomes the Orediggers as the top-ranked defense in the RMAC and ranked seventh in the nation. The Mavericks fuel their defense with the ninth-most rebounds and seventh-most blocked shots in all of NCAA Division II. Mines uses steals and forced turnovers to spark its defense. In fact, the Orediggers rank seventh in the nation with 100 steals and sit first in the conference by forcing 20.00 turnovers per contest. Individually, Ashley Steffeck is fourth in the country in total steals. Needless to say, don't expect this game to go much over 100 on the over-under.
 
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
Mines returns home Jan. 29-30 for games against CSU Pueblo and Adams State. As stated before, spectators will not be allowed, 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.