CoSIDA Academic All-District Teams

GOLDEN, Colo. – Oredigger junior Denali Pinto earned CoSIDA Academic All-District honors on Thursday following the Colorado School of Mines Women's Basketball team's record-setting 2020-21 season.
 
The announcement marks Pinto's second straight Academic All-District selection after she earned the same honor and CoSIDA Academic All-America as a sophomore in 2019-20. She appeared as one of five members on the District 6 team which includes the Rocky Mountain Athletic and Lone Star Conferences. Pinto's honor came thanks to her combined performance on the court and in the classroom, and advances her to the ballot for CoSIDA Academic All-America. Nominees and selections for the CoSIDA Academic All-District teams are student-athletes with a minimum grade-point average (GPA) of 3.3 as a sophomore or above and a starter or significant contributor to their team. The 2020-21 teams used career statistics due to the discrepancy in games played this season.
 
Pinto's resume for the prestigious award features an unblemished GPA as a chemical engineering major. That academic mark also helped the guard claim back-to-back RMAC Academic Player of the Year and RMAC First-Team All-Academic distinction. The rest of Pinto's 2020-21 accolades include 2021 Colorado Sportswoman of the Year for college basketball and First-Team All-RMAC as well as RMAC Offensive Player of the Week. The Boulder, Colo., native blew past 1,000 points for her career during the season thanks to 13.9 points per game along with 4.8 rebounds, 1.4 assists and nearly 1.0 steals per game while adding seven blocks. Pinto now ranks sixth on Mines' all-time scoring list with two seasons of eligibility remaining.
 
As a team, the Orediggers went 17-3 overall and 14-3 in RMAC play on the way to their first conference crown since 2015-16. It marks Mines' best season in history by winning percentage as the squad also claimed the top seed in the West Region for the 2020-21 NCAA Tournament. The Orediggers closed the year with their highest national rankings in program history at #17 in the media poll and #21 in the coaches' poll. Mines' success anchored on the Orediggers' best defense in program history which allowed just 55.0 points per game to opposing teams.
 
Mines now looks forward to 2021-22 as Head Coach Brittany Simpson expects her entire roster to return. All awards, news and updates for Oredigger women's basketball will be published 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.