CANYON, Texas – True freshman Emma Sixta helped the Colorado School of Mines Women's Basketball team earn an 81-78 road win against West Texas A&M on Saturday afternoon with 16 points including two late free throws.
 
Sixta led her team in scoring thanks to 6-of-10 shooting from the field including a pair of three-pointers. She was also 2-for-2 at the free-throw line while adding four assists, three rebounds, and one steal. Jenna Siebert turned in a 13-point, seven-rebound day, and had four assists and one steal as well. Ashley Steffeck made it a trio of double-digit scorers for Mines. She finished touting 10 points, five rebounds, three assists, three steals, and one block. Also notable were nine points from Suni Davis in just six minutes of action as she was perfect from the floor. Jessica Rios tossed in nine points on a trio of three-pointers. Audrey Beaty notched a pair of blocks to round out the highlights.
 
The Orediggers (3-1) came from behind by winning the turnover and rebound battles while riding 88-percent shooting at the free-throw line. West Texas A&M (2-3) was forced into 21 turnovers which led to 19 points for the visitors. The home team also had 31 rebounds compared to Mines' 34 boards. The Lady Buffs suffered from 73-percent free-throw shooting. Even so, WTAMU converted at 49 percent from the floor and had nine three-pointers to lead for most of the game. The Orediggers matched West Texas A&M's 9-of-23 mark from behind the arc. Both team's benches combined for 86 points.  Mines outscored WTAMU in the paint, 30-26, and also benefited from 21 second-chance points. Azia Himeur and Hollie Stadler combined to pour in 41 points for the Lady Buffs as the top two scorers in the game.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
In the opening quarter, Davis burst off the bench for Mines and scored all nine of her points in just 5:38 of action. Unfortunately for the Orediggers, West Texas A&M was red-hot on offense, shooting 56 percent from the floor to carry a 24-18 lead into the first break. Mines immediately responded by shooting 58 percent from the floor in the second quarter as Sixta dropped five points. That helped the Orediggers pull with three points at 40-37 going into halftime.
 
Mines lost none of its momentum while sitting in the locker room. The Orediggers stormed into the second half and almost immediately went on an 8-0 run spanning nearly four minutes of game action. But the roller coaster continued with WTAMU closing the quarter on its own 8-0 run. That spurt provided the home team the only double-digit advantage of the game. The Lady Buffs would carry a 62-52 advantage into the final frame.
 
Siebert then took the Lady Buffs by the proverbial horns. She accounted for nine of Mines' 29 fourth-quarter points and grabbed five rebounds as part of the Orediggers' torrid comeback. It started with a 9-1 run at the beginning of the period, and Siebert's two free throws with 3:45 to play gave the visitors the lead for good. Sixta's first two free throws of the game came with 10 seconds on the clock, and they provided the final nail in the coffin.
 
NOTABLES
- Saturday marked Mines' first win against West Texas A&M in program history, pushing the Orediggers to 1-2 in the all-time series.
- Sixta posted single-game career highs in points, assists, field goals made, field goal attempts, and three-pointers in her performance against the Lady Buffs.
- Davis was 3-for-3 from the field including 2-for-2 from long range with one free throw on Saturday afternoon.
- Siebert's seven rebounds against WTAMU were a career high for the redshirt sophomore.
- Siebert has also dished out a career high four assists in back-to-back games.
- Rios moved over 400 points for her collegiate career. She scored 183 in two seasons at Sacramento State and now has 219 in an Oredigger uniform.
- Steffeck's 10 points pushed her to #8 on Mines' all-time scoring list. She moved past Laura Tyree and now has 1,181 career points.
- Steffeck also moved up Mines' all-time assists list. She took over #5 from Peanut Eickelman. The graduate student boasts 316 career assists in 112 games as an Oredigger.
- Furthermore, Steffeck now ranks #5 in program history for free throws in a career.
- Ten Orediggers saw action against West Texas A&M and all 10 scored at least four points and had at least one field goal.
- Head Coach Brittany Simpson is 201-115 in her 12th season leading Mines.
 
WHAT'S NEXT
Mines returns home to host its own Thanksgiving Classic next Friday and Saturday at Lockridge Arena. The Orediggers face Cameron on Friday and #15/21 MSU Billings on Saturday. Both tipoffs are slated for 5 p.m. Live stats and free video on the RMAC Network will be available at www.minesathletics.com.
 
Fans can keep up with Mines women's basketball on "X" (formerly Twitter) and Instagram at @MinesWBB. They can also keep up with Colorado School of Mines Athletics all year long on Facebook, "X" and Instagram using the handle @MinesAthletics.­­­