Mines (9-8, 4-2 RMAC) at CSU Pueblo (8-6, 4-2 RMAC) – Thursday, 5:30 p.m. – Pueblo, Colo. [Live Stats] [RMAC Network]
Mines (9-8, 4-2 RMAC) at Colorado Christian (4-10, 1-5 RMAC) – Saturday, 1 p.m. – Lakewood, Colo. [Live Stats] [RMAC Network]

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ROAD TRIP!
The Colorado School of Mines women's basketball team takes its first road trip of 2026 this week. Thursday brings a jaunt south to CSU Pueblo for a 5:30 p.m. tipoff. On Saturday, the Orediggers make the short trip to Lakewood, Colo., for a cross-metro showdown at Colorado Christian starting at 1 p.m. Five straight wins and condensed conference standings have Mines primed to make some moves up the RMAC table.
 
LIVE COVERAGE
Fans can watch this weekend's action with a subscription to the RMAC Network. There will also be free live stats linked above and at www.minesathletics.com.
 
RMAC NETWORK CHANGES
During the fall, the RMAC Network moved to a pay-per-view model for all events. Fans can purchase monthly and annual subscriptions that will provide them access to all regular-season, championship, and archived broadcasts on the RMAC Network. A monthly subscription costs $25, and an annual subscription costs $130. Single-game passes are available for $10, which grants access to a single game for 24 hours. For technical support questions, fans can contact Hudl Support or email the RMAC directly (rmac@rmacsports.org). For further support, fans can visit the RMAC Network Help page.
 
FIVE STRAIGHT
A pair of victories last weekend extended Mines' current winning streak to five games. It's the Orediggers' longest winning streak since the 2023-24 season when they won 12 consecutive games from Nov. 18 through Jan. 13. This current run includes a victory at Hawaii Pacific and home decisions over Nelson, Northern New Mexico, Chadron State, and South Dakota Mines. During the span of success, Mines' average margin of victory has been over 27 points per game. That large margin is thanks to wins of 98-52 and 100-49 against Nelson and Northern New Mexico, respectively. A three-point win at Hawaii Pacific and a two-point win over South Dakota Mines have bookended the run so far.  The Orediggers haven't lost since Dec. 18 in a 76-55 hiccup against Alaska Anchorage in Hawaii.
 
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK – AGAIN
Jade Leon won RMAC Defensive Player of the Week for a second consecutive week on Monday after locking down against Chadron State and South Dakota Mines. Leon's line against CSC included six points, three steals, three rebounds, and one assist. Against SDM, she racked up 16 points, eight rebounds, six steals, and two assists with zero turnovers. For the week, Leon's numbers came out to 5.5 rebounds, 4.5 steals, 11.0 points, and 1.5 assists per game. She now ranks #2 in the RMAC in total steals and steals per game.
 
LAST WEEK REWIND
Mines returned to conference play last week, hosting Chadron State on Thursday and South Dakota Mines on Saturday. The Orediggers rolled past the Eagles, 81-55. Emma Sixta led all players with 22 points while adding four rebounds, four assists, two steals and one block. She only missed one shot from the floor. Sofia Baldessari went for 20 points with six rebounds, two assists, and two steals. Quincey Baum came up with eight points, five assists, three rebounds, two blocks, and two steals. On Saturday, the Orediggers escaped with a thrilling, 78-76 victory over the Hardrockers. That contest featured 25 more points from Sixta and a utilitarian outburst from Jade Leon who posted 16 points, eight rebounds, six steals, and two assists. Baldessari and Jenna Shandy combined to score 25 points and Baldessari grabbed another eight rebounds.
 
SCOUTING CSU PUEBLO
The women from Colorado State University Pueblo are 8-6 on the year with a 4-2 mark in RMAC play. They started the year 1-4 before winning seven of their last nine games. Last week, the ThunderWolves went to Colorado Springs for a 52-35 loss and hosted Colorado Christian in a 66-49 victory. The Pack also dropped a conference game at home to Western Colorado on Dec. 6. Seneya Martinez, a NCAA Division I transfer from Appalachian State, leads the team in scoring with 10.4 points per game. Dasani Nesbit is tops on the glass with her 5.5 rebounds per game. Also notable is Genesis Sweetwine, who boasts averages of 9.1 points, 3.1 assists, 3.0 rebounds, and 1.4 steals per game. Defense has guided CSU Pueblo's success as The Pack only allows 58.1 points per game to their opponents.
 
OREDIGGERS AGAINST THE THUNDERWOLVES
The all-time series between Mines and CSU Pueblo sits a 39-29 in favor of the ThunderWolves. The Orediggers pulled closer in the rivalry after taking six straight from The Pack from 2019-21. Mines still sits 7-3 in its last 10 meetings with CSU Pueblo. Last season, each team defended its home court. Mines won in Golden, 62-56, thanks to Jade Leon's career-high 20 points with seven rebounds, four steals, and two assists. In Pueblo, the ThunderWolves ran away to an 82-63 victory in the regular-season finale despite three Orediggers scoring in double figures. The last time Mines won in Pueblo was Jan. 12, 2024. The score was 61-45.
 
SCOUTING COLORADO CHRISTIAN
Colorado Christian is 4-10 overall and 1-5 in conference play so far this season. The Cougars' wins have come against #20 UT Tyler, Western Colorado, Northern New Mexico, and Nelson. Most recently, CCU fell on the road at CSU Pueblo, 66-49, and dropped a 60-55 decision at home to UCCS. The Cougars will host MSU Denver on Thursday before Mines comes to town on Saturday. Jordon Heckert, a fifth-year transfer from Wayne State College leads Colorado Christian in scoring thanks to 10.4 points per game. Ja'Shell Johnson, a NCAA Division I transfer from UT Rio Grand Valley, ranks first on the team with her 3.0 assists per game. Heckert is also tops on the glass by way of 4.9 rebounds per game. As a team, CCU averages 56.3 points per game and gives up 61.6 per game.
 
OREDIGGERS AGAINST THE COUGARS
Mines is 40-25 all-time against Colorado Christian including a 12-game win streak that lasted from 2004-09 and another nine-game run from 2018-24. The Cougars have taken the last two from the Orediggers with a 71-68 win in Lakewood on Feb. 23, 2024, and a 74-61 last year at Lockridge Arena. Last year's meeting saw Jenna Shandy pour in 20 points with four assists, one rebound, and one steal. Mines' last win over CCU was Jan. 6, 2024, in Golden by a score of 80-73. That victory featured 15 points, nine rebounds, eight assists, and five steals from Oredigger legend Ashley Steffeck.
 
BALDESSARI BREAKS RECORD
Sophomore forward Sofia Baldessari broke the program's single-game scoring record on Friday, Jan. 2, against Nelson. She torched the Warriors for 45 points inside Lockridge Arena. The previous record was 40 points set by teammate Jenna Shandy at home against Chadron State last season. That performance made Baldessari the first Oredigger woman to ever go over 40 points in a single game. Her 45 points are also tied for #4 in RMAC history and #1 in NCAA Division II this season. She accomplished the feat in just 26 minutes of action while going 4-for-9 from three-point range, 16-of-23 from the floor, and 9-for-10 at the free-throw line. She had a career-high five steals as well. Also notable in the same game were seven assists for Shandy – six of which were to Baldessari. So far during the 2025-26 season, only four players across all three divisions of the NCAA have scored more points in a game than Baldessari. One of those is Audi Crooks from Iowa State. Mines' sophomore transfer hails from Englewood, Colo., and graduated from Douglas County High School before playing her freshman season at College of Saint Benedict in Minnesota.
 
JENNA SHANDY
Jenna Shandy surpassed 1,000 career points earlier this season and was officially honored with a commemorative ball prior to tipoff against Northern New Mexico on Jan. 3. The redshirt senior continues to climb the all-time rankings in the program record book as well. With 14 games remaining in her collegiate career, Shandy now boasts 1,204 points which ranks #9 in program history. She's just 21 points shy of tying Ja'net Proctor's 1,225 points from 1992-96. Additionally, Shandy has drained 169 three-pointers in her career which is tied for #7 in the program record book with Sammy Van Sickle. Furthmore, Shandy moved over 200 career assists before the new year. She needs five more dimes to tie Marissa Eichorn (1998-02) for #11 on Mines' all-time list at 225.
 
MORE SHANDY
Many fans know her as Jenna Siebert, but now they'll know her as Jenna Shandy. In the midst of her final season, Shandy has made her mark as one of Mines' most prolific scorers – ever. To start, she surpassed 1,000 points for her career on opening weekend of the 2025-26 season. Last year, the Valor Christian High School graduate broke the program's single-game scoring record by dropping 40 points on Chadron State in just 28 minutes of action at Lockridge Arena. A record toppled by teammate Sofia Baldessari this season. That performance was one of five for Shandy featuring 30 points or more in single game – tied for first in program history with Denali Pinto and Ashley Steffeck. Shandy's 547 points in 2024-25 are #3 in program history and her 19.5 points per game rank #2 for season scoring average in program history. Furthermore, the mechanical engineering major broke the Oredigger women's season record with 203 made field goals – a record that had stood since the 1985-86 season. Shandy is also #7 and tied for #17 for three-point field goals made in a season.
 
ROSTER RUNDOWN
The Orediggers' 2025-26 roster includes 11 players. Five are returners from Mines' 2024-25 squad. There are also two true freshmen and four transfers. Despite a large percentage of fresh faces, Head Coach Brittany Simpson has her top-two scorers from last season and the two players with the most steals for the Orediggers in 2024-25.
 
THE VETERANS
Mines' returners include sophomores Lindsey Jones and Jade Leon, junior Emma Sixta, and redshirt seniors Jenna Shandy (née Siebert) and Quincey Baum.  Shandy and Sixta were the Orediggers' leading scorers in 2024-25, averaging 19.5 points and 10.5 points per game, respectively. The duo of Sixta and Shandy also combined for 78 steals last year. Baum, in her sixth year with the program, sat out her initial redshirt-senior campaign with an injury. Jones and Leon both provided big minutes off the bench and should see an expanded role in 2025-26.
 
MEET THE FRESHMEN
Olivia Campbell and Sophia Baal are the two true freshmen for the Orediggers. Campbell played at Fruita Monument High School just west of Grand Junction, Colo. She averaged 15 points, five rebounds, four assists, and three steals per game, and was First-Team All-Conference four times and Honorable Mention All-State three times. Baal, a graduate of Cherry Creek High School, also played club basketball for Hardwood Elite and competed in flag football. In fact, Baal helped represent CCHS and the state of Colorado at the NFL's 2025 Pro Bowl Games in Orlando, Fla., as the Cherry Creek flag football squad competed in the first-ever NFL Flag High School Girls Showcase. She was named the MVP at the NFL event.
 
TRANSFER QUARTET
Mines Head Coach Brittany Simpson further bolstered her roster during the offseason with the addition of four transfers, as noted above. Liv Loveland, a Castle Rock, Colo., native, came back to Colorado after playing one season at NCAA Division I Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville. She played in six games for the Cougars including her collegiate debut against Murray State. Madison Gage, a Legacy High School graduate, committed to the Orediggers following two seasons at Chaminade (DII) in Hawaii. Gage's time with the Swords included 155 points, 84 rebounds, 18 assists, 19 steals, and four blocks. She dropped 17 points on Evergreen State as a true freshman and decided to return to Colorado following a coaching change made by the Chaminade administration. Emily Thomas, another Colorado product, returned to her home state after two seasons at RMAC foe South Dakota Mines. Following an injury-shortened freshman season and a coaching change after, Thomas arrives in Golden touting 103 points, 127 rebounds, 25 steals, eight blocks, and 77 assists. Rounding out the quartet is Sofia Baldessari who graduated from Douglas County High School in Colorado before starting her post-prep career at College of Saint Benedict (DIII) in Minnesota. In 12 games as a true freshman, Baldessari collected 102 points, 77 rebounds, six assists, eight steals, and two blocks.
 
BOSS LADY
Head Coach Brittany Simpson is in her 14th 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 240-147 (.620). 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 37 All-RMAC selections including 16 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. nine of Mines' 14 1,000-point scorers have surpassed the milestone under Simpson's watch.
 
UP NEXT
The Orediggers play at Regis on Jan. 22 before hosting MSU Denver on Jan. 24. Free live stats will be available, as well as live video with a subscription to the RMAC Network.
 
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.