(2) #21 Mines (23-5) vs. (6) MSU Denver (16-13) – Friday, 7:30 p.m. – Regis Field House – Denver, Colo. [Tickets] [Live Stats] [RMAC Network] [Championship Central]
RMAC Tournament Championship – Saturday, 7 p.m. – Regis Field House – Denver, Colo. [Tickets] [Live Stats] [RMAC Network] [Championship Central]

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SHOOTING FOR HISTORY
The postseason rolls on this weekend for the #21-ranked and second-seeded Colorado School of Mines Women's Basketball team. The Orediggers are set to face off against sixth-seeded MSU Denver in the 2023 RMAC Women's Basketball Tournament semifinals on Friday evening. Tipoff is slated for 7:30 p.m. inside Regis Field House in Denver. The winner advances to the championship game where they will take on the victor between top-seeded Regis and fourth-seeded Adams State. Mines has made it to the final round three times before, but has never lifted the RMAC cup. The Orediggers' will look to make history this weekend and win their first-ever RMAC tournament. But they'll have to get through the Roadrunners and another team to do it.
 
FAN INFORMATION
Fans are strongly encouraged to purchase their tickets online and in advance at the RMAC's Championship Central page. Purchasing online and in advance will expedite your entry to the venue. That being said, tickets are available at the door with cash or card. Prices are $10 for adults and $5 for children and seniors. Mines students get in free with their BlasterCard.
 
LIVE COVERAGE
All RMAC contests, including the conference tournament, 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.
 
TOURNAMENT FORMAT
The RMAC Women's Basketball Tournament is an eight-team, single-elimination bracket. Action started on Tuesday with the quarterfinals. Three of the four top seeds advanced with MSU Denver providing one upset over third-seeded Black Hills State. Friday's and Saturday's semifinals and championship game are played at the highest remaining seed which is regular-season champion Regis. Winners on Friday play each other for the RMAC cup on Saturday at 7 p.m. Losers on Friday either start the offseason or await the NCAA Selection Show to see if they advance to the NCAA tournament.
 
BRACKET UPDATE
Tuesday's quarterfinals provided mostly predictable results. The lone upset was the first game of the evening as sixth-seeded MSU Denver went to third-seeded Black Hills State and scored the 56-50 upset in Spearfish, S.D. Second-seeded Mines and seventh-seeded Colorado Mesa played the second game of the evening with the Orediggers earning a 66-60 win. That formed the semifinal showdown on the bottom of the bracket. On the other side, top-seeded Regis made easy work of eighth-seeded CSU Pueblo, 72-57. The #4 seed Adams State dissected fifth-seeded Westminster to tune of a 71-48 score. That pitted ASU and RU in the other semifinal showdown.
 
QUARTERFINAL QWELL
Mines faced Colorado Mesa for the third time in the 2022-23 season on Tuesday evening. The Orediggers led from start to finish with no ties or lead changes, but it was no blowout. Mines shot out to a 20-10 lead in the first quarter, but the Mavericks made it 31-25 by halftime. The Orediggers re-extended their lead in the second half, making it 43-28 in the third quarter. Once again, CMU made a run and pulled within 49-43. In the final period, Ashley Steffeck closed out the 66-60 win with 11 fourth-quarter points. She finished the game touting a game-high 21 points along with five rebounds, four assists, and three steals. Josephine Howery provided 17 points on 5-of-10 shooting including a 3-for-4 mark from beyond the arc. Megan Van de Graaf made it a trio of Orediggers in double digits by adding 12 points. Also notable was Sammy Van Sickle who chipped in 13 rebounds, nine points, five assists, and two steals.
 
SCOUTING MSU DENVER
Metropolitan State University at Denver finished the 2022-23 regular season with an overall record of 15-13 while going 14-9 in RMAC play. That mark provided good enough to earn the #6 seed in the conference tournament. Despite dropped a 61-50 loss at Adams State in the regular-season finale, the Roadrunners parlayed their tournament berth into a first-round, 56-50 upset of #3 Black Hills State. MSU Denver's best run of the season was five consecutive wins from the end of January into February. They knocked off Western Colorado, Adams State, Fort Lewis, South Dakota Mines, and Black Hills State. Only two of those wins came at home. Statistically, the Roadrunners are #6 in the RMAC in offense and #4 in defense on the merits of 63.2 points per game compared to 61.9 points per game for the opposition. Individually, Kendra Parra is the lady to watch. She led the league in scoring with 18.4 points per game, and she ranks #3 in the nation in total free throws. Also notable are Jaiden Galloway and Tosjanae Bonds. Galloways dishes out 3.9 assists per game, and Bonds is responsible for MSU Denver's first-round win at BHSU after pouring in 21 points.
 
SERIES HISTORY
Mines and MSU Denver added to their rivalry with two meetings during the 2022-23 season. The Orediggers won both. At home, Mines claimed a 79-62 victory thanks to Jessica Rios' 20 points. In Denver, the Orediggers escaped with a 63-62 win after a controversial final minute. Ashley Steffeck led the team in that victory with 15 points and 13 rebounds as well as six steals, two blocks and three assists. Kendra Parra scored 17 points in Golden, Colo., and 18 points against Mines on her home court. The two Oredigger wins gave them their 29th and 30th victories in the all-time series. They are now 30-55 against the Roadrunners. Through the last seven meetings, Mines is 6-1 against MSU Denver. The only loss in that span was a 74-67, overtime heartbreaker in Denver.
 
MINES IN THE RMAC TOURNAMENT
After Tuesday's win, the Oredigger women improved to 10-20 all-time in the conference tournament. It marked the Orediggers' fifth straight win in the first round. Mines is in the middle of its eighth consecutive RMAC tournament appearance. Under Head Coach Brittany Simpson, the Orediggers have appeared in nine conference tournaments in 11 seasons. Mines has made three runs to the RMAC Tournament Championship game. The first appearance was in 2006 as the eighth seed. The Orediggers' second appearance in the final round was 2009 as the third seed. In 2020-21, Mines made its third trip to the championship game which was never played due to COVID-19 protocols. The Orediggers have never won the RMAC Women's Basketball Tournament.
 
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
On Wednesday morning, just hours after defeating Colorado Mesa, the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference announced Sammy Van Sickle as its 2022-23 RMAC Defensive Player of the Year. She gives Colorado School of Mines Women's Basketball back-to-back RMAC Defensive Players of the Year after Ashley Steffeck won the award in 2021-22. In 2022-23, Van Sickle touts averages of 9.4 points, 7.9 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 2.6 steals, and 1.8 blocks. Through the regular season, she ranked #1 in blocks, #3 in steals, #3 in defensive rebounding, and #4 in overall performance on the glass. Furthermore, Van Sickle was #2 in the RMAC in assist-to-turnover ratio and #4 in assists per game. She earned RMAC Defensive Player of the Week twice during the year and added RMAC First-Team All-Academic and CSC Academic All-District to her resume as well.
 
FIRST-TEAM ALL-RMAC
Wednesday morning also brought the announcement of the 2022-23 All-RMAC teams, and Mines had a trio of Orediggers on the top squad. Ashley Steffeck, Megan Van de Graaf, and Sammy Van Sickle were all voted First-Team All-RMAC. No other team in the conference had more or even matched Mines' trio of first-team players. It marked the third All-RMAC nod for Steffeck and Van Sickle. Van de Graaf's award was the first All-RMAC distinction of her career. Steffeck earned hers behind 13.8 points, 5.3 rebounds, 3.2 assists, and 2.8 steals per game. Van de Graaf's honor was fueled by 13.6 points per game on 53-percent shooting.
 
REGIONAL RANKINGS
The latest NCAA Regional Rankings came out on Wednesday afternoon. After debuting at #1, Mines dropped to #3 due to its loss at Adams State on the last weekend of the regular season. Texas Woman's jumped from #3 to #1 despite its own 1-1 weekend to close the regular season. Angelo State held strong at #2. The rest of the list featured #4 Black Hills State, #5 UT Tyler, #6 Lubbock Christian, #7 West Texas A&M, #8 Regis, #9 Texas A&M-Kingsville and #10 Adams State. If the NCAA tournament started today, the South Central Region Tournament would be played at Texas Woman's and the Orediggers would face Lubbock Christian. One more edition of the regional rankings remains. It will be unveiled during the NCAA Selection Show on Sunday, March 5, at 8:30 p.m. (MT).
 
CHASING MILESTONES
Last weekend, Ashley Steffeck reached the 1000-point milestone for her collegiate career. She's now at 1,031 career points and climbing. Two other Orediggers are within reach of the 1K milestone as well. Sammy Van Sickle boasts 984 career points. Her single-game career high is 26 points so she could easily reach it on Friday night. Furthermore, Van Sickle is 11 rebounds shy of becoming the program's all-time leader on the glass. She's pulled down 13 rebounds three times in her last seven games so fans should watch for that as well. Megan Van de Graaf has surged late in the season and now boasts 963 points for her career. She averaged over 19 points per game to end the regular season, so she's well within reach if Mines can extend its season by another game or two.
 
NATIONAL RANKINGS
With the release of numerical regional rankings, the national polls are all but a moot point. The national rankings have nothing (we repeat, NOTHING) to do with postseason selection. That being said, Mines continues to appear on the national lists. The latest rankings had the Orediggers #21 in the coaches' poll and #22 in the media poll. Those came out late Tuesday afternoon before Mines' RMAC tournament opener.
 
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 182 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. They've now advanced to eight straight RMAC tournaments as well.
 
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 197-112 (63.7). 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 34 All-RMAC selections including 14 first-teamers, 11 second-teamers, one third-team selection and eight honorable mention performers.
 
UP NEXT
If the Orediggers win on Friday, they will play the winner of Regis and Adams State in the championship game on Saturday at 7 p.m. inside Regis Field House. If Mines loses on Friday, the team will await the NCAA Selection Show on Sunday at 8:30 p.m. (MT) to find out if the Orediggers' name is called for the NCAA tournament.
 
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.