(7) #22 Mines (25-5) vs. (2) #7 Texas A&M-Commerce (26-4) – Friday, 2:30 p.m. (CT) – Canyon, Texas [Live Stats] [LSC Digital Network] [Championship Central] [Tickets]
South Central Region Semifinal vs. (3) Lubbock Christian or (6) CSU Pueblo – Saturday, 5 p.m. (CT) – Canyon, Texas
South Central Region Championship – Monday, 7 p.m. (CT) – Canyon, Texas

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WIN, OR GO HOME
All of the 2021-22 season comes down to this weekend for the #22-ranked Colorado School of Mines Women's Basketball team as they open the 2022 NCAA South Central Region Tournament in Canyon, Texas. The Orediggers face second-seeded and #7-ranked Texas A&M-Commerce in the opening round at 2:30 p.m. (CT) on Friday afternoon at the First United Bank Center on the campus of West Texas A&M. A win pushes Mines into the regional semifinals. A loss ends the season with no more selection shows to come. The end goal is to win the region and advance to the NCAA Elite Eight March 21-25 in Birmingham, Ala.
 
FAN INFORMATION
Tickets on sale now and can be purchased online or at the gate. Only credit cards can be used at the gate. All-session packages or single-game tickets are available for varying prices. Additionally, live stats and video on the Lone Star Conference Digital Network will be offered at no cost and are linked above.
 
LOOKING BACK
Mines' last action came in the RMAC Tournament Semifinal round where the Orediggers dropped a 61-54 decision to fourth-seeded CSU Pueblo at Lockridge Arena. That loss followed a 64-31 win over Western Colorado in the opening round which secured hosting rights for the RMAC Regular Season Champion. Friday's semifinal saw Denali Pinto drop 13 points while Courtney Stanton added 10 points. Ashley Steffeck did it all with nine points, five rebounds, five assists and five steals. However, 18 total turnovers doomed the Orediggers.
 
THE REST OF THE FIELD
Filling up the rest of the bracket for the 2022 NCAA South Central Region Tournament are the following teams. Lubbock Christian earned the #3 seed and face sixth-seeded CSU Pueblo at 12 p.m. (CT) on Friday. West Texas A&M claimed the top seed and hosting rights. The Lady Buffs host eighth-seeded Colorado Mesa at 5 p.m. (CT) on Friday. The final quarterfinal matchup features Texas Woman's as the #4 seed and RMAC Tournament Champion MSU Denver as the #5 seed at 7:30 p.m. (CT) on Friday. The winner of Lubbock Christian and CSU Pueblo will play the winner between Mines and TAMUC at 5 p.m. (CT) on Saturday. That leaves the victors between WTAMU and CMU to face the TWU and MSUD winners at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday. The final two teams get a day off before playing for the region title on Monday at 7 p.m. (CT). All seven contests will be hosted at First United Bank Center in Canyon, Texas.
 
SCOUTING TEXAS A&M-COMMERCE
The 2022 postseason marks the last for Texas A&M-Commerce as a member of NCAA Division II. Earlier in the fall, TAMUC announced it would ascend to NCAA Division I and compete in the Southland Conference effective starting in 2022-23. The Lady Lions made the most of their final DII season by carrying a 26-4 record into the NCAA Tournament. That winning percentage ranked #1 in the region. Notable among TAMUC's notable wins was a 66-62 victory over then #4-ranked Lubbock Christian and a 74-68 win against CSU Pueblo in Lakewood, Colo. However, the Lady Lions did drop two contests to West Texas A&M during the season. Individually, freshly-minted D2CCA South Central Region Player of the Year Dyani Robinson leads her team with 16.1 points a game while also adding 4.4 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.0 steals per contest. Also notable is DesiRay Kernal's 11.7 points per game and Chania Wright's 10.9 points per contest. No player averages more than 1.1 steals per game or over 1.0 blocks per game. Kernal and Juliana Louis are big on the glass with 7.5 and 7.4 rebounds per game, respectively.
 
SERIES HISTORY
Despite a longstanding tradition of playing regional crossover games to start each season, Friday will mark the first-ever meeting between Mines and Texas A&M-Commerce. The only Texas A&M school that the Orediggers have ever played is Texas A&M-International. Outside of the similar name, there is nothing that coincides between the two schools.
 
NCAA TOURNAMENT HISTORY
Mines' berth in the 2022 NCAA Tournament marked its fourth in program history. However, Friday will be the Orediggers' first game in the national postseason since 2016. Mines earned the #1 seed in the West Region last season, but had to bow out of the tournament due to COVID-19 protocols. The Orediggers also earned a berth in 2015-16 when they won their first RMAC title. Mines' other NCAA Tournament appearance was 2009-10. All that being said, the Orediggers are 0-2 in the national postseason and Head Coach Brittany Simpson is 0-1. Mines' NCAA debut featured a 63-54 loss to Fort Lewis on March 12, 2010. In 2016, the Orediggers fell 71-61 to Angelo State in Lubbock, Texas, despite 21 points from then true freshman Cassidy Budge. Mines was the #8 seed in 2010, the #5 seed in 2016, the #1 seed in 2021 despite not playing and now own the #7 seed in 2022.
 
BEST SEASON EVER
No matter what happens in Texas this weekend, Mines' women have already put together what is undeniably the best season in the history of the program. The Orediggers' 25 wins are the most in a single season in program history. Their 19 wins in conference play matches the program record. Mines also scored its most points in a single game thanks to 108 against New Mexico Highlands on Jan. 26, 2022. That game also marked Mines' largest of margin of victory – ever – in the 108-29 win. The Orediggers' matched the longest win streak in program history thanks to 13 straight victories in the middle of the season. Currently, Mines' offensive and defensive production is on pace to break both program records which currently sit at 69.1 points per game on offense and 55.0 points per game allowed on defense.
 
PINTO VOTED D2CCA ALL-REGION
Denali Pinto was named D2CCA Second-Team All-Region on the eve of the 2022 NCAA Tournament. Pinto earned the accolade thanks to 13.9 points, 4.3 rebounds, 1.9 steals and 1.2 assists per game during the 2021-22 season thus far. Her season resume also includes First-Team All-RMAC, CoSIDA Academic All-District and RMAC First-Team All-Academic. During the regular season, Pinto broke and tied multiple program records including the Orediggers' all-time scoring mark – now over 1,600 points in her career. She also matched the single-game scoring record thanks to 38 points against Fort Lewis on Feb. 11. Currently, Pinto's name is listed 23 times in the program record book with more to come. She earned D2CCA First-Team All-Region in 2019-20 as well.
 
STEFFECK NAMED RMAC DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Ashley Steffeck was named the RMAC Defensive Player of the Year and Second-Team All-RMAC last week as the conference revealed its 2022 award winners. Steffeck's RMAC Defensive Player of the Year and Second-Team All-RMAC honors were the first such awards of her career after she earned Honorable Mention All-RMAC in 2020-21. The Fort Collins, Colo., native leads not only the conference, but all of NCAA Division II in total steals and steals per game with 119 at a clip of 4.00 swipes per game. Her steals numbers also broke the program's single-season steals record that was previously set in 1995-96, and she ranks #3 on Mines' all-time steals list. The rest of Steffeck's resume featured 9.9 points, 4.7 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game. She was named RMAC Defensive Player of the Week twice during the season.
 
SIMPSON VOTED RMAC COACH OF THE YEAR
Mines Head Coach Brittany Simpson joined the superlative awards announced last week by bringing home her second straight RMAC Coach of the Year accolade. It marked the third such award of Simpson's career after leading Mines to its second straight RMAC Regular Season Championship behind the league's #1-ranked offense and #1-ranked defense. The Orediggers' regular-season record of 24-4 (19-3 RMAC) broke the program's single-season wins record and tied the all-time mark for conference wins. Along the way, Simpson's squad also matched the program's all-time win streak with 13 consecutive victories. Nationally, Mines ranks #2 in the nation in total steals, #2 in steals per game, #3 in turnover margin, #8 in turnovers forced, #8 in scoring margin and #9 in scoring defense. Under Simpson's guidance, the Orediggers have limited opponents to 54.4 points per contest while averaging 71.6 points per contest through 30 games which gives them an average margin of victory of 17.2.
 
FOUR CROWNED ALL-RMAC
Last week's announcement revealed four Orediggers earning All-RMAC distinction. Denali Pinto and Sammy Van Sickle were voted First-Team All-RMAC while Courtney Stanton joined Ashley Steffeck on the second team. Mines' four selections to the top two squads led the entire conference. The All-RMAC teams and award winners were voted on by all 15 head coaches across the league. They could not vote for their own players. Additional awards included RMAC Player of the Year won by Daniella Turner of Colorado Mesa while Haylee Weathersby of Black Hills State brought home RMAC Freshman of the Year.
 
FUN FACT OF THE WEEK
As mentioned above, Friday marks Mines' first game in the national postseason since 2016. Specifically, the Orediggers' will return and compete in the NCAA Tournament again after exactly 2,192 days. That comes out to six years and one day, 72 months and one day. For you "Rent" fans it's a bit more than 525,600 minutes. Try 3,156,480 minutes. And for those who really like the breakdown, it will break a steak of 189,388,800 seconds without playing in the national postseason. Needless to say, it's about time.
 
UP NEXT
This piece is laid out in the introduction. If the Orediggers win, they'll play on Saturday at 5 p.m. (CT). If they lose, the season is over. All live coverage links will be available the same places they have been all season.
 
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.