Mines (13-14, 8-8 RMAC) vs. UCCS (15-9, 11-5 RMAC) – Thursday, 5:30 p.m. – Lockridge Arena [Live Stats] [RMAC Network]
Mines (13-14, 8-8 RMAC) vs. CSU Pueblo (13-11, 9-7 RMAC) – Saturday, 1 p.m. – Lockridge Arena [Live Stats] [RMAC Network]

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BACK AT HOME
The Colorado School of Mines women's basketball team is back home this week after a two-game road trip last week. The Orediggers host UCCS Thursday evening at 5:30 p.m. as part of their annual Rock the Lock event. Saturday features Mines and CSU Pueblo facing off inside Lockridge Arena as part of the Orediggers' Alumni Weekend. The homestand arrives with only four games to play in the regular season as Mines continues to vie for a spot in the conference tournament.
 
ROCK THE LOCK
As mentioned above, thursday night is Mines' annual Rock the Lock event. Fans will be able to participate in giveaways and compete for epic prizes while food will be available from Woody's Wood Fired Pizza. The first 500 fans in attendance will get a Rock The Lock t-shirt. There will also be special recognitions for RMAC Champions Mines wrestling and club sport national champions women's rugby and cycling as part of the festivities. Some of the epic prices being given away include an Ikon Ski Pass, Nuggets tickets and more.
 
ALUMNI WEEKEND
On Saturday, the Oredigger basketball programs will welcome back their alumni for a celebration of past and present for Alumni Weekend. Additionally, the Oredigger Outfitters Campus Store will have a pop-up stand and will be selling official Mines merchandise to fans.
 
GET YOUR TICKETS
Fans planning to attend the games are encouraged to purchase digital tickets online in advance at tickets.minesthletics.com. Tickets are available at the door if needed. Mines students and employees can access their free tickets by logging in with their Mines SSO. Blaster Card scanning no longer works to get into any Oredigger home game. Additionally, one ticket each day covers both the women and women in the basketball doubleheader.
 
LIVE COVERAGE
Fans can watch this week'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.
 
ROAD TRIP RECAP
Last week featured a Thursday-night game at Black Hills State and a Saturday matinee at Chadron State. Mines lost to the Yellow Jackets, 62-50, despite Sofia Baldessari's 22-point, 14-rebound double-double. The Orediggers bounced back in a big way on Saturday, defeating the Eagles by a score of 79-51. Baldessari led the winning effort with 33 points and 11 rebounds. Sophia Baal recorded a career-high 16 points as well, and Jade Leon scored 10 points.
 
SCOUTING UCCS
The University of Colorado Colorado Springs touts a record of 15-9 (11-5 RMAC) and is one win away from clinching a berth in the conference tournament. The Mountain Lions went 6-6 prior to the holiday break. That mark included a significant, 71-67 home win against then-#3 Lubbock Christian. After the calendar, turned, UCCS stacked four straight wins – all in conference play. Most recently, the Mountain Lions lost at CSU Pueblo last Tuesday, 79-68. They won at Colorado Christian on Saturday, 71-61. Amyah Amyah Moore Allen is the defending RMAC Defensive Player of the Week. For the season, she averages 19.9 points. 5.6 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 2.3 steals, and 1.1 blocks per game. Running mate Ayianna Johnson is notable with her 12.0 points and 5.8 rebounds per game. Moore Allen's scoring numbers rank top-15 in the nation. As a team, UCCS is top-20 in the nation in turnover margin and #33 in field-goal percentage.
 
OREDIGGERS AGAINST THE MOUNTAIN LIONS
Mines narrowly trails in the all-time series against UCCS, 25-23. The Orediggers and Mountain Lions played once last season and UCCS won at home, 75-59. Mines last defeated the Mountain Lions on Jan. 20, 2024 in Golden, Colo. That was also the last meeting between the two teams in Golden.
 
SCOUTING CSU PUEBLO
Colorado State University Pueblo enters the week sitting 13-11 (9-7 RMAC), just one game ahead of Mines in the conference standings. The ThunderWolves put their modest three-game winning streak on the line Thursday at MSU Denver before coming to Golden on Saturday. Last week, The Pack hosted UCCS on Tuesday and won, 79-68. They traveled to Colorado Christian Saturday and won again, 62-52. Seneya Martinez is the only player on the team averaging double figures in scoring at 14.6 points per game. Genesis Sweetwine hands out 4.6 assists per game while adding 9.3 points and 3.3 rebounds. Dasani Nesbit leads CSU Pueblo on the glass with 6.5 rebounds per game.
 
OREDIGGERS AGAINST THE THUNDERWOLVES
Mines played at CSU Pueblo earlier this season and rallied for a 73-70 victory after a game-winning three-pointer off the hand of Quincey Baum with four seconds on the clock. That victory improved the Orediggers to 30-39 in the all-time series against the ThunderWolves. It also moved Mines to 7-3 across its last 10 meetings with CSU Pueblo. The last time the Orediggers and ThunderWolves played in Golden was Jan. 16, 2025. Mines won the contest by a score of 62-56 thanks to Jade Leon's 20 points, seven rebounds, four steals, and two assists.
 
RECORD BOOK UPDATE
Multiple Orediggers have already edited the program record book this season. Jenna Shandy has climbed to #5 on the all-time list for made three-pointers. She's also #7 in career scoring, #10 in career assists, and #17 in single-season three-pointers. Emma Sixta owns the #13 spot on the list for career three-pointers. Additionally, Sofia Baldessari now has 478 points in her first season at Mines. That's more points than other player in their first season as an Oredigger since the year 2000. She's now #5 on the all-time, single-season scoring list. Baldessari also ranks #16 in single-season three-pointers and #8 in single-season free throws made. Furthermore, Baldessari broke the program's single-game scoring record with 45 points against Nelson and has four additional games of at least 30 points.
 
SOFIA BALDESSARI
In addition to overhauling Mines' record book, Sofia Baldessari is making her name known across the RMAC. With four games to play in the regular season, Baldessari ranks #1 in the league in scoring thanks to 20.8 points per game. She's #3 in rebounding with 8.3 boards per game. The sophomore is also #1 in free-throw percentage, #6 in three-pointers per game, #7 in three-point percentage and #10 in field-goal percentage among qualifying players. Finally, despite missing the first three games of the season, Baldessari ranks #6 in the nation in points per game and #13 in total points.
 
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 244-153 (.614). 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
Mines hosts Regis on Tuesday, Feb. 24, before its regular-season finale on Thursday, Feb. 26, at MSU Denver. 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.