(8) Mines (21-8) at (1) #7 Texas Woman's (29-4) – Friday, 5 p.m. CT – Denton, Texas
South Central Region Tournament Semifinals – Saturday, 7:30 p.m. CT – Denton, Texas
South Central Region Tournament Championship – Monday, 7 p.m. CT – Denton, Texas
Fan Information: [Live Stats] [Live Video-PPV] [Bracket] [Tournament Central] [Tickets]

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GOING DANCING
Mines women's basketball is headed to Texas this weekend for the first three rounds of the NCAA tournament. It's another "new" season for the Orediggers as they compete in the eight-team, single-elimination South Central Region bracket. Mines has advanced to the national postseason four straight years and six times in program history. After earning this year's eighth seed, their first-round matchup comes against top-seeded and #7-ranked host Texas Woman's. Tipoff is slated for 5 p.m. (CT) in Denton, Texas. With a win, Mines would advance to the regional semifinal. A loss brings the Orediggers' 2023-24 campaign to a close.
 
FAN INFORMATION
All admission requires online purchase. Tickets can be purchased through TWU's partner HomeTown Ticketing. General admission is $10 and covers all games played that day. Youth and seniors are $8. A ticket purchased for Friday's quarterfinals provides access to four games. A ticket for Saturday's semifinals is good for two games. The same prices apply to Monday's championship as well. Also notable is Texas Woman's clear bag policy which all fans in attendance must abide by. If the Orediggers win on Friday, they will play on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. (CT) against either fourth-seeded UT Permian Basin or fifth-seeded Adams State. The regional championship is scheduled for Monday, March 18, at 7 p.m. (CT).
 
LIVE COVERAGE
Oredigger fans who are unable to make it to Denton, Texas, can still watch and follow all the action live. Pay-per-view video will be offered through the NCAA Championships Pass. Prices, including taxes and fees range from $10.55 for a single game to $51.75 for access to all games from the first, second, and third rounds of the 2024 NCAA Division II Men's AND Women's Basketball Championship. There is also a $31.15 option for the first three rounds of the DII women's tournament only. Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) and NCAA Digital have teamed up to release the "NCAA Championships Pass" app which can be downloaded on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and Google TV. Just search "NCAA Championships Pass" on those platforms. Additionally, free live stats will be linked at www.minesathletics.com and on social media.
 
THE BRACKET
The 2024 NCAA South Central Region Women's Basketball Tournament is an eight-team, single-elimination bracket. Texas Woman's earned hosting rights as the #1 seed. The Pioneers will host the eighth-seeded Orediggers on Friday night at  5 p.m. (CT). The winner between Mines and TWU will face the victor between fourth-seeded UT Permian Basin and fifth-seeded Adams State. On the other side of the bracket, Colorado Mesa earned the #2 seed and gets to play seventh-seeded Lubbock Christian at 2:30 p.m. (CT) on Friday. Making up the first game of the tournament are third-seeded Regis and sixth-seeded UT Tyler. They play at 12 p.m. (CT) – also on Friday. The winners from the first two games will play each other in the first semifinal on Saturday at 5 p.m. (CT). Those teams advancing to the championship game are slated to face off on Monday at 7 p.m. (CT).
 
NCAA TOURNAMENT HISTORY
Mines is making its sixth appearance in the NCAA tournament. The Orediggers' first bid to the national tournament came in 2010. They earned the #8 seed and lost to Fort Lewis, 63-54, in the first round. Mines also advanced in 2016 when they won their first-ever RMAC title. The Orediggers were the #5 seed and dropped a 71-61 decision to Angelo State in Lubbock, Texas, despite 21 points from Cassidy Budge. Mines earned the #1 seed in the West Region in 2019-20 but could not play due to COVID-19 protocols. In 2022-23, the Orediggers won their second straight RMAC title and claimed the #7 seed in the South Central Region. They would fall to second-seeded Texas A&M-Commerce by a score of 80-74 in the Lady Lions' last-ever game as a NCAA Division II program. Last season, Mines was the #4 seed and took on fifth-seeded UT Tyler. The Orediggers eventually lost to the Patriots, 73-63, despite Ashley Steffeck exploding for 27 points, 13 rebounds, seven steals and one assist. Overall, Mines' women are 0-4 in the national postseason and Head Coach Brittany Simpson is 0-3.
 
TEXAS TIES
This week, the Orediggers travel to Texas for the second time in 2023-24 after playing at Texas Woman's and West Texas A&M during the non-conference portion of their schedule. It will be a homecoming of sorts for three individuals on Mines' roster. Audrey Beaty will be the closest to home after growing up in Aubrey, Texas, and graduating from Aubrey High School just 11 miles north and east of TWU's campus. Suni Davis also calls the metroplex home. She grew up in Fort Worth and attended Saginaw High School which is just over 30 miles from Texas Woman's. Peyton Freiermuth is coming back to her home state, but three to four hours further north of her hometown Austin, Texas.
 
D2CCA ALL-REGION
The Division II Conference Commissioner's Association (D2CCA) released its 2023-24 all-region teams on Thursday, and Mines' Ashley Steffeck was voted to the first team for the South Central Region. It marks Steffeck's first-ever nod to the top squad after earning D2CCA Second-Team All-Region in 2022-23. She was joined on the 2023-24 first team by Raiana Brown (Texas A&M-International), Ashley Ingram (Texas Woman's), Alisha Little (CSU Pueblo), and Olivia Reed (Colorado Mesa). Ingram was voted D2CCA South Central Region Most Outstanding Player.
 
ALL-RMAC DUO
Last week, one day after the first round of the conference tournament, the 2023-24 All-RMAC teams were announced. Ashley Steffeck was voted First-Team All-RMAC and Jenna Siebert was Honorable Mention All-RMAC. It marked Steffeck's fourth straight all-conference accolade. Siebert's award was the first such honor of her career. The 2023-24 RMAC Player of the Year was Colorado Mesa's Olivia Reed. The Maverick's Mason Rowland and Head Coach Taylor Wagner also earned RMAC Freshman of the Year and RMAC Coach of the Year, respectively. Alisha Little from CSU Pueblo earned RMAC Defensive Player of the Year.
 
MAKING HISTORY
Ashley Steffeck has literally rewritten Mines' record book during the 2023-24 season. Coming in to the year, she already owned nearly every Oredigger steals record. In her final campaign, Steffeck also broke the program records for career scoring, career assists, career free throws made, and single-season free throws made. She is officially the only Oredigger ever – man or woman – to record more than 400 steals and over 400 assists in a career. Additionally, Steffeck is just 10 points away from Mines' single-season scoring record.
 
LAST TIME OUT
Mines was last in action on Tuesday, March 5, in the first round of the 2024 RMAC Women's Basketball tournament. The Orediggers were the fifth seed in the bracket and traveled to fourth-seeded UCCS. A 71-65 setback handed Mines an early exit from the tournament. Shelby Nichols scored 15 points and pulled down eight rebounds against the Mountain Lions. Ashley Steffeck and Loralee Stock scored 12 points and 11 points, respectively. Steffeck also dished out four assists and pulled down nine rebounds.
 
SCOUTING TEXAS WOMAN'S
Texas Woman's University enters the NCAA tournament with an overall record of 29-4 while riding a four-game win streak. The Pioneers swept the regular-season and tournament titles in Lone Star Conference thanks to a 20-2 mark in LSC play. They toppled UT Permian Basin the LSC Tournament Championship game by a score of 70-60. Ironically, the last loss for TWU came in the regular season against the same UTPB team. It was a 54-47 setback in Denton. As a team, the Pioneers average 72 points per game and hold their opponents to 60 each night. Nationally, Texas Woman's is #6 in free throws made per game and #11 in field-goal percentage. Individually, Ashley Ingram was LSC Player of the Year and D2CCA South Central Region Player of the Year. Her averages include 18.1 points, 8.7 rebounds, 3.7 assists, and 1.1 steals. Ingram leads the country in total free-throws made and free-throw attempts. She's #3 in field-goal percentage and #8 in total double-doubles. Second-Team All-LSC player Leila Patel puts up 13.7 points while pulling down 3.9 rebounds per game.  
 
OREDIGGERS AGAINST THE PIONEERS
The all-time series between Mines and Texas Woman's consists of two game. The Pioneers won the first-ever meeting, 68-61, on Dec. 30, 2000, in Denton, Texas. The Orediggers also traveled to TWU earlier this season and fell by a score of 72-66. In that game, Mines was whistled for 25 files and only drew eight. Loralee Stock led the Orediggers in scoring with 12 points. She also had three steals. Shelby Nichols and Josephine Howery combined to score 21 points. Ashley Steffeck was limited to eight points, four assists, three rebounds, and one block.
 
20-WIN SEASON
With their win at Chadron State on Feb. 24, Mines' women reached 20 wins for a third straight season. It marks the most successful stretch in program history. Prior to the 2021-22 campaign when the Orediggers posted a 25-6 mark, the program had only produced two 20-win campaigns – ever. The first 20-win season came in 2009-10. The second campaign with 20 wins was 2015-16 when Mines won its first RMAC title.
 
200 WINS
Mines' win against St. Edward's on opening weekend gave Mines Head Coach Brittany Simpson the 200th win of her career. It makes Simpson the only head coach in program history to reach the milestone. By default, it also makes her the fastest to 200 career wins in the history of Mines women's basketball. The milestone added to Simpson's impressive resume which saw her become the winningest coach in the history of Colorado School of Mines Women's Basketball on Dec. 4, 2020, in a 68-53 win over South Dakota Mines inside Lockridge Arena. Simpson is now in her 12th season as skipper of the Orediggers.
 
BOSS LADY
Head Coach Brittany Simpson is in her 12th season leading the Mines women's basketball program. During her decade tenure, she has become the winningest coach in program history both in terms of total wins and win percentage at 219-122 (64.2). 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. Last season, Ashley Steffeck became the first all-American in program history after earning Honorable Mention All-America status from the Women's Basketball Coaches' Association (WBCA).
 
UP NEXT
If the Orediggers win on Friday, they will play Saturday at 7:30 p.m. (CT). A win on Saturday would mean a game on Monday at 7 p.m. (CT). If Mines' women win on Monday, they advance to the NCAA Division II Elite Eight in Missouri next weekend. A loss at any point brings the 2023-24 season to a close.
 
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.