AUSTIN, Texas – The Colorado School of Mines Women's Basketball team suffered its first loss of the young 2024-25 season on Saturday, falling by a score of 71-51 at St. Edward's.
 
A trio of Orediggers scored in double figures. Emma Sixta led the team with 14 points. Jenna Siebert tallied 13 points and grabbed four rebounds. Josephine Howery recorded 10 points and bolstered her game resumes with six rebounds, three assists, three steals, and two blocks. Michaela Lee joined Howery's block party by stuffing two shots herself in addition to seven points and six rebounds. Sixta had multiple assists as well and Jade Leon pulled down five boards to round out the box score highlights.
 
Mines (1-1) shot over 40 percent from the floor and drained six three-pointers. However, St. Edward's (2-3) also converted at 40 percent on offense, notched seven three-pointers and went 16-of-17 at the free-throw line. Performance at the charity stripe and turnovers made the difference in the game. The Orediggers were 5-of-10 at the free-throw line and committed 20 turnovers. The Hilltoppers only turned the ball over 12 times.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Unfortunately for the visitors, it was a wire-to-wire victory for St. Edward's. The Hilltoppers started the game on a 14-0 run before hometown lady Peyton Freiermuth put Mines on the board with 2:09 to play in the first quarter. The Orediggers bounced back from 25-percent shooting in the opening frame by going 7-of-12 in the second quarter and 7-of-12 in the third quarter. Those surges were highlighted by Sieberts six points in the second and Sixta's six points in the third. However, a Mines comeback was held up by 23-percent shooting in the final frame. Field goals from Howery, Siebert, and Sixta were all the Orediggers got in the final 10 minutes. That, combined with a 19-0, fourth-quarter run by SEU all but sealed the 20-point loss.
 
NOTABLES
- Mines still leads the all-time series against St. Edward's, 5-3.
- The Orediggers have won four straight meetings with the Rattlers.
- Mines used 10 of its 11 active players on Saturday afternoon.
- The Orediggers were whistled for 21 fouls. St. Edward's was whistled for 11 fouls.
- Howery surpassed 700 points for her career in the game against the Hilltoppers.
- Freiermuth blocked the first shot of her collegiate career in her hometown of Austin, Texas.
- Leon also had her first blocked shot as an Oredigger on Saturday.
- Howery's two blocked shots matched her career high previously established at UCCS in December of 2021.
- Michaela Lee set a new career high in scoring and rebounding.
- Mines Head Coach Brittany Simpson is now 220-124 in her 13th season at the helm.
 
WHAT'S NEXT
The Orediggers head to Billings, Mont., next weekend for games against Simon Fraser and MSU Billings. Live stats and video will be linked at www.mineathletics.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.