#18 Mines (19-4, 15-3 RMAC) vs. Colorado Christian (10-14, 6-12 RMAC) – Friday, 5 p.m. – Lockridge Arena [Live Stats] [RMAC Network]
#18 Mines (19-4, 15-3 RMAC) vs. Chadron State (4-20, 4-14 RMAC) – Saturday, 3:30 p.m. – Lockridge Arena [Live Stats] [RMAC Network]

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SENIOR WEEKEND
Friday and Saturday mark the final home games of the regular season for the #18-ranked Colorado School of Mines Women's Basketball team. That also makes it Senior Weekend as the Orediggers host Colorado Christian at 5 p.m. on Friday and Chadron State at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday. Senior Day ceremonies for the women will be held at halftime of the men's game on Saturday evening. With Mines still in the running for a Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference crown, each came is just as important as the last, and the Orediggers will need each win to stay lockstep with current #1 seed Regis.
 
NOTE THE TIMES
Tipoff times for Friday and Saturday are a little different this weekend. Fans should note Friday's start time of 5 p.m. and Saturday's tipoff at 3:30 p.m. Men's games as part of the basketball doubleheaders are slated for 7 p.m. on Friday and 6 p.m. on Saturday.
 
GET YOUR TICKETS
Fans can purchase tickets to Mines home games online at www.minesathletics.com/tickets or at the gate. General admission is $10 for adults, $5 for children, seniors, and military, and free for Mines students with their blaster card.
 
LIVE COVERAGE
All RMAC contests stream live and for free on the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Network. The RMAC Network can be accessed at www.minesathletics.com/tv, as well as with apps on all major smart TV platforms by searching RMAC. Live statistics are also available at www.minesathletics.com.
 
LAST WEEKEND
Mines played just one game last weekend and it was a 59-52 loss to Colorado Mesa on Friday evening. As the Orediggers also celebrated "Rock the Lock", Ashley Steffeck and Meghan Van de Graaf combined for 35 points and 13 rebounds. Sammy Van Sickle also turned in eight rebounds, five points, four assists, four steals and two blocks. Those performances would not be enough to over 19-percent shooting from the floor in the second half. The loss halted the Orediggers' six-game win streak and dropped Mines into a tie for #1 in the RMAC standings.
 
SCOUTING COLORADO CHRISTIAN
Colorado Christian is 10-14 overall with a 6-12 record in RMAC play. That puts the Cougars three games outside of a berth in the conference tournament with four games left to play. They come to Golden fresh off back-to-back losses last weekend at CSU Pueblo and at New Mexico Highlands. Despite a 4-4 record over the last eight games and a 2-1 record to start conference play, CCU suffered seven straight RMAC losses from December into January including one to Mines. Statistically, Colorado Christian averages 68.7 points per game while giving up an average of 70 per game to its opponents. Even though CCU shoots over 40 percent from the floor, the Cougars are only converting at 67 percent from the free-throw line. Maggie Phipps is the leading scorer at 12.9 points per game. Nicole Bowlin dishes out 3.6 assists per game. Agnes Paul is tops on the glass with 7.3 rebounds per game while also averaging 8.9 points per contest.
 
SERIES HISTORY – CCU
Mines and Colorado Christian already played once this season. The result from Lakewood, Colo., on Jan. 1, 2023, was a 75-62 win for the Orediggers. That improved them to 38-23 in the all-time series against the Cougars. Mines won the contest despite zero field goals in the second quarter. Jessica Rios and Jenna Siebert finished with 11 points each. Ashley Steffeck and Loralee Stock combined for 20 points. Sammy Van Sickle had nine points, nine rebounds, and nine assists with two blocks and a steal. The Oredigger win also extend their win streak against CCU to seven. Mines hasn't lost to Colorado Christian since Feb. 11, 2017. The Orediggers are 10-1 against the Cougars since 2015.
 
SCOUTING CHADRON STATE
Chadron State College will play MSU Denver on Friday before coming to Golden on Saturday. The Eagles started the season 0-7 and are now 4-20 overall and 4-14 in RMAC play. Their four wins, all in conference play, have come against New Mexico Highlands, MSU Denver, Fort Lewis, and South Dakota Mines. All but one of CSC's wins have been at home in Nebraska. The Eagles are currently riding a four-game skid. Their latest losses were at New Mexico Highlands and at CSU Pueblo. Chadron State's season box score features a negative scoring margin of 11.4 as the Eagles average 60 points a game and give up over 71. Individually, Ashayla Powers is the player to watch. She touts 16.8 points and 7.0 rebounds per game while touting the nation's #22-ranked field-goal percentage. Samiyah Worrell also averages 10.7 points per game.
 
SERIES HISTORY – CSC
Mines owns 32 wins compared to 34 losses in the all-time series against Chadron State. The two teams have not played since Dec. 31, 2021. That result was an 87-41 win for the hosting Orediggers. It extended Mines' win streak against Chadron State to five games and marked the largest margin of victory in the history of the rivalry. In the win, Sammy Van Sickle turned in an 18-point, 17-rebound double-double while dishing out three assists as well. Ashley Steffeck scored 13 and racked up four steals. The Orediggers are 9-1 against the Eagles over the last 10 meetings. Mines hasn't lost to Chadron State since Jan. 26, 2019. Mines hasn't lost to CSC in Golden since Jan. 27, 2012 – over 11 years ago.
 
MEET THE SENIORS
There will be a trio of Orediggers honored at halftime of the men's game on Saturday for Senior Night. All three are graduate students at Mines in their final year of eligibility. The individual "guests" of honor include Meghan Van de Graaf, Ashley Van Sickle and Sammy Van Sickle. Van de Graaf and Sammy Van Sickle both joined the program in 2018 and have since helped the Orediggers win 98 games compared to 34 losses going into their final, regular-season home weekend. They also helped Mines produce a RMAC record of 77-24 including two RMAC titles and two berths in the NCAA Tournament. Ashley Van Sickle joined the Orediggers, and her sister Sammy, this season in her final season of eligibility after playing four seasons at NCAA Division I Montana State where she helped the Bobcats win the 2022 Big Sky Conference Tournament. Individual bios of each senior can be found below.
 
MEGAN VAN DE GRAAF
The Spring, Texas, native has appeared in 126 games with 28 starts in her career at Mines. Her career statistics going into the weekend include 880 points on 51-percent shooting with 501 rebounds, 83 assists, 69 steals, and 20 blocks. She is a three-time RMAC Academic Honor Roll member and this season was voted RMAC First-Team All-Academic and earned RMAC Offensive Player of the Week. Her weekly honor came on Feb. 6 after she averaged 24.0 points per game on 60-percent shooting from the floor during Mines' 2-0 road trip to South Dakota.
 
ASHLEY VAN SICKLE
A native of Arvada, Colo., and a graduate of Ralston Valley High School, Ashley Van Sickle started her collegiate career at NCAA Division I Montana State in 2017. During her time with the Bobcats, Van Sickle scored 285 points in 112 games with two starts while grabbing 165 rebounds and dishing out 157 assists. She also racked up 74 steals and blocked four shots. Van Sickle's tenure in Bozeman also included a Big Sky title in the regular season in 2019-20 and a Big Sky Tournament title with a trip to the NCAA Tournament in 2021-22. She was also named an All-Big Sky Conference Academic honoree four times while earning the Bobcat Strength Award twice and The Pulfrey-Brick Award once. Now, prior to her final home weekend of the regular season, Van Sickle boasts career numbers of 317 points, 187 rebounds, 178 assists, 89 steals, and four blocks.
 
SAMMY VAN SICKLE
Also a native of Arvada, Colo., and alum of Ralston Valley High School, Sammy Van Sickle enters the final home weekend of the regular season having played in 127 games with 103 starts leading to 937 points, 833 rebounds, 328 assists, 223 steals, and 144 blocks She's also drained 162 three-point baskets during her time at Mines. Van Sickle is currently listed in the program record book four times with multiple entries yet to come. She's an 11-time RMAC Defensive Player of the Week and two-time RMAC Offensive Player of the Week. Van Sickle was named to the RMAC All-Tournament team in 2020 and 2021. She claimed Second-Team All-RMAC as a junior and First-Team All-RMAC as a senior before starting graduate school. The younger Van Sickle has also been voted RMAC First-Team All-Academic three times with one appearance on the RMAC Academic Honor Roll.
 
THE VAN SICKLE SISTERS (WATCH)
Those who follow Oredigger women's basketball and even Montana State women's basketball are aware that the 2022-23 season is special for Sammy and Ashley Van Sickle. The sisters were reunited after Ashley transferred to Mines from NCAA Division I Montana State to use her final season of eligibility. Use the link above to learn more about their story.
 
COUNTDOWN TO 1,000
The countdown to 1,000 career points for a trio of Orediggers continues this weekend. Ashley Steffeck, Megan Van de Graaf are all within striking distance of 1,000 points for their respective careers. Steffeck has been averaging 17.7 points per game since Jan. 17 and now has 962 points in less than four seasons. She needs just 38 points or 9.5 points per game to reach the milestone in the regular season. Van Sickle is the next closest. She touts 937 points in five seasons. That leaves her needing 63 points or 15.7 points per game to accomplish the feat in the regular season. Van de Graaf has her work cut out for her, sitting on 880 points. However, she has averaged 15.5 points per game since Jan. 14 and 21.3 over her last three outings. Van de Graaf may still need 120 more points, but her recent averages and a guaranteed postseason game have her in the hunt.
 
POSTSEASON BOUND
Mines' two wins in South Dakota, including an 72-58 victory and Black Hills State and an 84-68 decision at South Dakota Mines, clinched the Orediggers a berth in the 2023 RMAC Women's Basketball Tournament. Now, two wins in the final four games of the regular season would assure Mines a top-four seed which would give the Orediggers a home game in the first round on Tuesday, Feb. 28.
 
STANDINGS UPDATE
Last weekend's loss to Colorado Mesa and three straight wins for Regis have moved Mines to #2 in the RMAC standings. The Orediggers are half a game back of the Rangers who played at UCCS and won on Tuesday. If both teams win the rest of their regular-season contests, they would have the same record and be named co-RMAC Champions. However, Regis would claim the #1 seed thanks to its win against Mines earlier this season. Black Hills State and Adams State are tied for #3 and Westminster is one game back at #5 with a shot for a spot in the top four. Rounding out the bracket if the tournament started today are #6 MSU Denver with CSU Pueblo and Colorado Mesa tied at #7. UCCS is one game out and New Mexico Highlands is two games out. Chadron State and South Dakota Mines have been mathematically eliminated from a shot at the postseason. One more loss for Western Colorado and two for Colorado Christian and Fort Lewis would do the same to those teams.
 
THE BRACKET TODAY
If the 2023 RMAC Women's Basketball Tournament started today, Regis would be the RMAC Champion and host Colorado Mesa. Mines would host CSU Pueblo. Adams State currently holds the tiebreaker against Black Hills State, giving the Grizzlies the #3 seed and a home game against MSU Denver. That would put Black Hills State at #4 hosting #5 Westminster.
 
REGIONAL RANKINGS
The first edition of the NCAA Regional Rankings were released earlier this week. By rule, the first iteration simply includes 10 teams under consideration listed in alphabetical order. Mines was one of the 10 teams. The other nine included Adams State, Angelo State, Black Hills State, Lubbock Christian, Regis, Texas A&M-Kingsville, Texas Woman's University, UT Tyler and West Texas A&M. The first ranked version will come out next Tuesday. The final edition of the NCAA Regional Rankings will be announced on March 5 with the top eight teams in the region advancing to the NCAA Tournament. Based on straight RPI, Texas Woman's is #1 followed by #2 Mines, #3 Black Hills State, #4 Angelo State, #5 Lubbock Christian, #6 UT Tyler, #7 Texas A&M-Kingsville, and #8 Regis.
 
NATIONAL RANKINGS
As a reminder, the national rankings have absolutely nothing (we repeat, NOTHING), to do with postseason selection. Qualification for the NCAA Tournament is based solely on winning the conference tournament and the decision of the Regional Advisory Committee (RAC). Even so, an update on the national rankings is never a bad thing. After 12 weeks of regular-season play, Mines checked in at #18 in the coaches' poll and #20 in the media poll. The Orediggers dropped six spots in each after losing to Colorado Mesa. No other RMAC team has been nationally ranked this season.
 
HOW FAR WE'VE COME
The inaugural campaign for Colorado School of Mines Women's Basketball was 1976-77. Through the first 20 seasons of the program's existence, the Orediggers totaled 106 victories with zero seasons above .500 and just two double-digit win campaigns. Over the last decade, including the 2022-23 campaign, Mines has racked up 178 wins, three conference titles, and three NCAA Tournament berths. The Orediggers have not finished under .500 since 2014-15, and have recorded double-digit wins every year since 2011-12.
 
AT THE HELM
Head Coach Brittany Simpson is in her 11th season leading the Mines women's basketball program. Mines' home game against Fort Lewis marked her 300th as head coach of the Orediggers. During her decade-plus tenure, she has become the winningest coach in program history both in terms of total wins and win percentage at 193-111 (63.4). Simpson is responsible for all three of the program's RMAC titles including regular-season championships in 2015-16, 2020-21, and 2021-22, as well as three of four trips to the NCAA Tournament. She is a three-time RMAC Coach of the Year who has guided 31 All-RMAC selections including 11 first-teamers, 11 second-teamers, one third-team selection and eight honorable mention performers.
 
UP NEXT
Mines closes the 2022-23 regular season next weekend with a trip to Adams State on Friday and to Fort Lewis on Saturday. Live stats and free video on the RMAC Network will be offered 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.