(8) Mines (15-16, 10-10 RMAC) at (1) #4 Colorado Mesa (30-1, 20-0 RMAC) – Tuesday, 5:30 p.m. – Grand Junction, Colo. [Live Stats] [RMAC Network] [Championship Central]

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BACK IN THE POSTSEASON
The Colorado School of Mines women's basketball team is back in the postseason as the #8 seed in the 2026 RMAC Women's Basketball Tournament. Action starts Tuesday night with the Orediggers taking on top-seeded, regular-season champion, and #4-ranked Colorado Mesa in Grand Junction with a 5:30 p.m. tipoff. Mines will need a win to extend its season, and it will be tall task. But anything can happen in the madness that is college basketball in March.
 
LIVE COVERAGE
Fans can watch this week's action with a subscription to the RMAC Network. Those with monthly and annual subscriptions already have access. Fans can also purchase a tournament day pass for $15 which will allow access to all championship games on that given day. There will also be free live stats linked above and at www.minesathletics.com.
 
GET YOUR TICKETS
Fans planning to attend Tuesday's game can purchase admission through Hudle, the RMAC's ticketing partner. Purchasing online in advance is highly encouraged. All postseason tickets can be accessed at www.rmacsports.org/tickets.
 
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.
 
TOURNAMENT FORMAT
The RMAC basketball tournament is an eight-team, single-elimination event. The first round, or quarterfinals, are all played Tuesday with the top four seeds hosting on their respective campuses. Friday and Saturday bring the semifinals and championship game played at the highest remaining seed. Saturday's winner in the final earns the automatic qualifier (AQ) for the NCAA South Central Region tournament. Teams that lose during the week either end their season or await the NCAA selection show to see if they earn an at-large bid to the NCAA postseason.
 
THE BRACKET
As mentioned above, Colorado Mesa is the #1 seed in the 2026 edition of the RMAC tournament after winning the regular season title with an undefeated, 20-0 record. Mines earned the eighth and final spot in the bracket at 10-10 in league play without any tiebreakers required. The #2 seed went to UCCS which will host seventh-seeded Fort Lewis at 6 p.m. on Tuesday. Adams State earned the #3 seed and hosts sixth-seeded MSU Denver, also at 6 p.m. on Tuesday. The middle of the bracket features Western Colorado at #4 and Black Hills State at #5. Those two teams will face off in Gunnison at 6:30 p.m. – also on Tuesday.
 
RMAC TOURNAMENT HISTORY
Tuesday marks Mines' first RMAC tournament appearance since 2024. The Orediggers just missed the 2025 conference bracket after tying for eighth and being left out on tiebreakers. Mines appeared in nine consecutive RMAC tournaments from 2016-24. Under Head Coach Brittany Simpson, the Orediggers have advanced to 11 conference tournaments in 14 seasons. Their last appearance included a first-round loss to UCCS, but in 2023 the Orediggers advanced to the championship game. Mines was the #1 seed in 2016, 2021, and 2022. The Orediggers have made a total of four runs to the final game. Their first appearance in the championship showdown was in 2006 as the #8 seed, They advanced in 2009 as the #3 seed and also in 2021 as the #1 seed. Overall, Mines owns a RMAC tournament record of 11-22. From the 2017-18 season through the 2022-23 season, the Orediggers hosted a first-round game every year. No other team matched the same streak of hosting during that span.
 
LOOKING BACK
Mines hosted Regis last Tuesday in its final home game of the 2025-26 season which also made it Senior Night. The Orediggers were victorious, 63-50, with a quartet of double-digit scorers. Sofia Baldessari tallied 20 points, Jenna Shandy had 15 points, Jade Leon scored 11 points, and Sophia Baal recorded a 10-point, 10-rebound double-double. The senior duo of Shandy and Quincey Baum was celebrated at halftime of the following men's game. On Thursday, Mines closed its regular season at MSU Denver with an 85-65 loss. Despite the defeat, Baal went for 21 points and 15 rebounds in her second straight double-double. Shandy poured in 20 points as well. Thursday's loss did not impact Mines' seeding for the RMAC tournament.
 
SCOUTING COLORADO MESA
Colorado Mesa enters the postseason 30-1 overall after going 20-0 in RMAC play. The Mavericks have won 27 consecutive games with 25 of those wins coming by double digits. Their last loss was Nov. 14 at West Texas A&M. The final score was 85-70. Since then, the closest two games CMU has played included a 57-49 overtime win at UT Permian Basin, and a 69-68 thriller at New Mexico Highlands. The Mavericks are ranked #4 in the nation and they tout defending RMAC Player of the Year Olivia Reed Thyne. She averages 20.8 points, 11.2 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 1.5 blocks, and 1.4 steals per game. Her running mate is Mason Rowland who puts up 17.6 points, 6.0 rebounds, 3.9 assists, and 1.9 steals per game. Nationally, Reed Thyne ranks top-10 in the nation in double-doubles, field-goal percentage, made field goals, total points, points per game, total rebounds, rebounds per game, and triple-doubles. As a team, CMU is top-10 in the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio, field-goal percentage defense, fouls per game, rebound margin, scoring defense, scoring, margin, and winning percentage.
 
OREDIGGERS AGAINST THE MAVERICKS
Mines and Colorado Mesa played once during the 2025-26 season. The Mavericks were ranked #13 in the nation at the time and won at home, 86-47. Jenna Shandy was the Orediggers' leading scorer with 13 points. It marked the 85th all-time meeting between Mines and CMU. The record in the rivalry sits at 64-21 in favor of Colorado Mesa, but the teams are 5-5 across the last 10 meetings. The Orediggers last win against the Mavericks was on Dec. 1, 2023. It was an 89-85, overtime thriller in Golden.
 
RECORD BOOK UPDATE
Multiple Orediggers have already edited the program record book this season. Jenna Shandy has climbed to #4 on the all-time list for made three-pointers. She's also #6 in career scoring, #9 in career assists, and #11 in single-season three-pointers. Emma Sixta owns the #13 spot on the list for career three-pointers. Additionally, Sofia Baldessari now has 545 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 #4 on the all-time, single-season scoring list. Baldessari is also tied for #13 in single-season three-pointers and is tied for #5 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 made her name known across the RMAC. She finished the regular season ranked #1 in the conference in scoring average and #3 in total points despite playing just 26 games. Baldessari also ranked #3 in rebounds per game, #1 in free-throw percentage, #6 in three-pointers per game, #8 in three-point percentage, and #10 in field goal percentage.
 
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 246-155 (.613). 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
If Mines wins on Tuesday, it will play at the highest remaining seed on Friday in the RMAC tournament semifinals. If the Orediggers lose on Tuesday, or at any point, their season is over.
 
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.