Mines (0-0) vs. St. Mary's (0-0) – Friday, 3:30 p.m. CT – Austin, Texas [Live Stats] [LSC Network-PPV]
Mines (0-0) at St. Edward's (0-3) – Saturday, 3 p.m. CT – Austin, Texas [Live Stats] [LSC Network-PPV]

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BASKETBALL IS BACK
The 2024-25 college basketball season has arrived. Some teams and some divisions are in full swing already, but the Colorado School of Mines Women's Basketball team opens its new campaign this weekend. The Orediggers are headed to Austin, Texas, for the annual South Central Region crossover. They'll open everything up on Friday at 3:30 p.m. CT against St. Mary's out of San Antonio, Texas. The weekend closes with a showdown between Mines and St. Edward's at 3 p.m. CT. Both games will be played at St. Edward's Recreation and Athletics Center.
 
LIVE COVERAGE
Each game this weekend will have free live stats available for fans which are linked above and on the women's basketball schedule page. There will also be live video but it won't be free. The LSC Network stream, supported by FloCollege, can be purchased with a year subscription billed annually at $107.88 before taxes and fees. Fans can also purchase a month's subscription for $19.99 before taxes and fees. It's worth noting that Mines will also be on FloCollege when it travels to Texas Woman's on Nov. 20.
 
FAMILIAR FACES
Mines' 2024-25 roster features 14 student-athletes and 10 of them are returners. Josephine Howery, Jessica Rios, and Jenna Siebert all started multiple games last year. Siebert was eventually named Honorable Mention All-RMAC. Emma Sixta, Audrey Beaty, and Quincey Baum played significant minutes for the Orediggers in 2023-24. Isa Hensley, Michaela Lee, and Saya Sabus round out the returning letterwinners with Peyton Freiermuth coming off a redshirt season.
 
NOTING THE NEWCOMERS
Oredigger Head Coach Brittany Simpson added four newcomers to her roster during the offseason. Her signing class included three incoming freshmen and one transfer. Lindsey Jones played high school ball at Mission Hills High School in San Marcos, Calif. Jaycee Pittman arrived in Golden, Colo., after a prep career out west – hailing from Parachute, Colo., and Grand Valley High School. Jade Leon journeyed from Miami, Fla., and Trinity Palmer High School to join the Orediggers. Olivia Lee rounded out the class after stops at Cal State San Bernardino and Western New Mexico.
 
MEET TAYLOR HARRIS
The Mines coaching staff added a fresh face last spring with Taylor Harris taking over as assistant coach for the Orediggers. Harris, a 14-year veteran coach, came to the Orediggers after leading Fort Lewis' women's squad for three seasons. Other stops for the Colorado native include Miles Community College (Mont.), and 10 years of service at fellow RMAC programs in Regis and MSU Denver. Fans can check out Harris' full biography HERE.
 
BOSS LADY
Head Coach Brittany Simpson enters her 13th season leading the Mines women's basketball program. During her decade-plus tenure, she has become the winningest coach in program history both in terms of total wins and win percentage at 219-123 (64.0). Simpson is responsible for all three of the program's RMAC titles including regular-season championships in 2015-16, 2020-21, and 2021-22. She has also led the Orediggers in five of their six trips to the NCAA tournament. Simpson is a three-time RMAC Coach of the Year who has guided 36 All-RMAC selections including 15 first-teamers, 11 second-teamers, one third-team selection and nine honorable mention performers. She has also coached one RMAC Player of the Year, two RMAC Defensive Players of the Year, and two RMAC Freshman of the Year award winners. Eight of Mines' 13 1,000-point scorers have surpassed the milestone under Simpson's watch.
 
SALUTE TO STEFFECK
For the first time since 2019, Colorado School of Mines Women's Basketball will take the court without Ashley Steffeck on the roster. Steffeck exhausted her collegiate eligibility last season and finished her career as arguably the greatest Oredigger in program history. She earned the first and second all-America honors in program history. Among her 48 listings in the Mines record book are all-time leading scorer, all-time leader in assists, and all-time leader in steals. While no player is irreplaceable, Mines will certainly look different in 2024-25.
 
SISTER-SISTER
The Orediggers' 2024-25 roster features sisters Michaela and Olivia Lee. Michaela is entering her second season at Mines. As a true freshman, she came off the bench and scored six points, grabbed eight rebounds, blocked four shots, and grabbed two steals in just 28 total minutes of action. Olivia is in her first, and only, season as an Oredigger. She started her collegiate career at Western New Mexico before transferring to Cal State San Bernardino after two seasons. The elder Lee completed her bachelor's degree at CSUSB and came to Mines to pursue a master's degree and play her final season of collegiate volleyball. Over the last four years, Olivia has accumulated 462 points, 391 rebounds, 61 blocks, 35 assists, and 21 steals across 81 games.
 
2023-24 REWIND
Colorado School of Mines finished last season with a 21-9 (16-6 RMAC) record. The Orediggers' conference mark was good enough for fifth in the RMAC standings after four different teams tied for first. Mines also advanced to its fourth straight NCAA tournament where it fell in the first round to Texas Woman's, 81-72. It should be noted that TWU eventually played in the national championship game where it lost to Minnesota State. Individually for Mines in 2023-24, Ashley Steffeck was named First-Team All-RMAC and Honorable Mention All-America. Jenna Siebert also earned Honorable Mention All-RMAC distinction.
 
SCHEDULE AT A GLANCE
Mines' 2024-25 schedule is arguably one of the toughest in the nation – at least on paper. The Orediggers won't play a home contest until the fourth week of the season. When they do open at Lockridge Arena, they'll be facing preseason #1 Minnesota State and preseason #23 Fort Hays State. The season-opening road trip also includes showdowns with preseason #6 MSU Billings and preseason #2 Texas Woman's. There's also a RMAC matchup with preseason #21 Colorado Mesa before the holiday break as well. All that being said, Mines starts the season in Texas. Next weekend, the team heads to Billings, Mont., for two games. The Orediggers will play a midweek at #2 Texas Woman's on Nov. 20. Aforementioned home action beings Nov. 29-30. Conference play starts Dec. 5-6 at Adams State and New Mexico Highlands. Home RMAC opens Dec. 14 and 16 against #21 CMU and Westminster.  Mines finishes non-conference play by hosting Angelo State on Friday, Dec. 20. After the calendar flips, the Orediggers' home contests include CSU Pueblo, Colorado Christian, MSU Denver, Fort Lewis, Adams State, Black Hills State, Chadron State, and Regis.
 
SIMPSON'S SEASON OPENERS
Since arriving in Golden at the start of the 2012-13 campaign, Head Coach Brittany Simpson has guided her team to a 7-5 record in season openers. That mark includes four straight wins dating back to the 2020-21 season. The Orediggers toppled MSU Denver to start that campaign. They defeated St. Mary's, 85-54 to open the 2021-22 slate. The 2022-23 premier featured an 86-45 win at St. Mary's. Last season, Mines downed St. Mary's again, 81-68, inside Lockridge Arena. The 2023-24 opener was only the second time Coach Simpson has started a season at home since 2015.
 
IN THE POLLS
Colorado School of Mines Women's Basketball was picked #5 in the RMAC preseason coaches' poll released last month. The Orediggers' projected finish came by way of 152 points. Colorado Mesa, UCCS, CSU Pueblo, and Adams State ranked 1-4 and split all but one first-place vote. Regis grabbed the last first-place vote and finished sixth in the preseason predictor. Coaches were not allowed to vote for their own teams.
 
SCOUTING ST. MARY'S
The Rattlers of St. Mary's out of San Antonio, Texas, finished the 2023-24 season with an overall record of 6-22 while going 6-16 in Lone Star Conference play. Last season's Rattlers did defeat NCAA Division I UT Rio Grande Valley in an exhibition by a score of 70-64. They also closed the season winning two of their last three. The LSC preseason poll put St. Mary's #13 out of 16. St. Mary's only returns three players from last year's team. Those are Stina Svilberg, Sheridan Kavanagh, and Sian Phipps. Kavanagh only played in four games and averaged 9.5 points per game. Svilberg scored 192 points with 113 rebounds, had 28 assists, 16 steals, and six blocks. Phipps made just four starts and averaged 7.4 minutes per game.
 
OREDIGGERS AGAINST THE RATTLERS
Mines is 3-2 in the all-time series against St. Mary's. The two teams first played on Jan. 22, 1997. The Rattlers won that game, 53-49, in San Antonio. St. Mary's also won a neutral-site contest on Nov. 19, 2016, in Lubbock, Texas. That final margin was 75-61. The Orediggers earned their first win in the rivalry in their 2021-22 season opener. It was an 85-54 win played at Regis Field House. In 2022-23, Mines evened the series thanks to an 86-45 victory in San Antonio. The Orediggers' 2023-24 season opener gave them the lead in the rivalry thanks to an 81-68 victory.
 
SCOUTING ST. EDWARD'S
St. Edward's University started its season last weekend in Canda. The Hilltoppers went 0-3 at the DII Canadian Tip-Off Classic in British Columbia. They lost to Simon Fraser, 78-62. Next was a 70-57 defeat at the hands of #4 Tampa. The trip ended for SEU with a 72-60 loss to #11 Gannon. After three games JP Perkins leads St. Edward's with 14.0 points, 4.3 rebounds, and over 4.0 assists per game. Perkins was All-LSC in 2023-24 and ranked ninth in the entire league in scoring. Kiana Bennett added 9.7 rebounds and 3.3 rebounds per game. Also notable were three blocks from Jasmyn Jackson. The Hilltoppers were 9-19 (6-16 LSC) in 2023-24. They were picked #12 in the conference's preseason poll.
 
OREDIGGERS AGAINST THE HILLTOPPERS
Mines is 5-2 in the all-time series against St. Edward's. That mark includes three straight wins over the Hilltoppers. Last season's meeting resulted in a 76-68 win for the Orediggers in Golden, Colo. Josephine Howery scored 12 points in that contest. For SEU, JP Perkins recorded 22 points, eight rebounds, three assists, and one block. The last time Mines lost to St. Edward's was the last time the two teams played in Austin, Texas. It was a 73-65 score on Nov. 9, 2019.
 
UP NEXT
After their trip to Texas, the Orediggers head north to Billings, Mont., for the Yellowjacket Classic. They'll play Simon Fraser on Friday, Nov. 15, at 5 p.m. Saturday features a 3 p.m. tipoff against #6 MSU Billings. Live stats and video of both games will be available at www.minesathletics.com.
 
Fans can keep up with Mines women's basketball on "X" (formerly Twitter), Facebook, 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.