Mines (16-8, 13-6 RMAC) at Black Hills State (14-9, 10-9 RMAC) – Friday, 5:30 p.m. [Live Stats] [Live Video]
Mines (16-8, 13-6 RMAC) at South Dakota Mines (9-14, 6-13 RMAC) – Saturday, 3:30 p.m. [Live Stats] [Live Video]
 

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ON THE RMAC NETWORK
Every Mines home game and RMAC road game can be seen live and for free on the RMAC Network at minesathletics.com/tv. The RMAC Network can also be found on Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Fire, and Android TV devices by going to the app store and searching "RMAC".
 
GREAT FACES. GREAT PLACES.
The Colorado School of Mines Women's Basketball team is headed for South Dakota this weekend for a pair of games at Black Hills State and South Dakota Mines. The Orediggers are just one win shy of clinching a berth in the RMAC Tournament. However, if Mines hopes to host a first-round game it has to keep on winning. Currently third in the conference standings, the Orediggers are just one game out of a messy, four-way tie for fourth place. Two wins in the Mount Rushmore state puts Mines in the hosting driver's seat, but a split or worse and things just get complicated.
 
LOOKING BACK
Last weekend, Mines hosted Parents & Family Night Friday, Alumni Night Saturday and managed a pair of wins along the way. The Orediggers defeated New Mexico Highlands 71-59 Friday night thanks to 21 second-half points from Cassidy Budge. Additionally, Courtney Stanton recorded the first double-double of her career and Denali Pinto notched her second. On Saturday night, Mines tallied a 70-54 victory over CSU-Pueblo to sweep the regular-season series with the ThunderWolves. Nicole Archambeau dominated everyone with 22 points, 13 rebounds and six assists. All three of those stats led the field as she turned in a block as well. The 2-0 weekend extended Mines' winning streak to six straight games – the longest active streak in all of the RMAC.
 
SCOUTING BLACK HILLS STATE
Black Hills State's season has not really gone as planned after being picked #1 in the RMAC Coaches' Preseason Poll. The Yellow Jackets are currently tied for eighth in the league standings and fighting for their postseason lives. At 14-9 overall and 10-9 in the conference, BHSU has lost three of its last five and sit 2-2 over the last two weeks. One loss over the last three games has the potential to eliminate Black Hills State from a shot at postseason play.  Four Yellow Jackets average double-digit scoring numbers. However, it's Morgan Ham who leads the squad amid speculation around potential First-Team All-RMAC honors. Ham puts up 14.0 points per game and also averages 5.3 rebounds and nearly 2.0 assists per contest. Katie Messler it tops for BHSU on the glass with 6.5 boards per game. Julia Seamans captains the offense with 3.0 assists per game. As a team, the Yellow Jackets rank #25 in the country in three-point field-goal percentage, converting their long range shots at a rate of 36.0 percent.
 
THEY'RE EVERYWHERE – EXCEPT ANTARCTICA
Earlier this season, fans learned that Yellow Jackets are, in fact, classified as wasps. They also learned entomologists believe in the one-word spelling – yellowjackets. What many may not know is that wasps are everywhere – literally. Wasps live on every continent but Antarctica. The insect makes nests from paper by chewing up strips of bark and spitting it out. While some colonies can grow up to 4,000-5,000 workers, there are some wasps that live alone. Also, wasps don't make honey. Only honeybees make honey. Not our best work, but now you know.
 
THE DONALD E. YOUNG CENTER
Black Hills State touts the Donald E. Young Center as the hub of the BHSU campus and the home court for the basketball and volleyball programs. The Yellow Jackets arena was built in 1900 and serves multiple rolls. The building features fitness facilities, an aquatics center and a field house with a walking track. No capacity is available for the competition gym, but it exclusively features bleacher style seating for fans.
 
SCOUTING SOUTH DAKOTA MINES
South Dakota Mines enters the weekend already eliminated from a shot at the RMAC Tournament. On the bright side for the Hardrockers, they have won three of their last five games with two victories over Chadron State and one over New Mexico Highlands. Taylor Molstad and Sami Steffeck lead SDSMT's offense with 11.9 and 11.4 points per game, respectively. Anna Haugen leads the team in rebounding with 8.6 boards per game. Molstad also averages just over 2.0 assists per game, and that's best on the team as well. Overall, South Dakota Mines is one of the best teams in the nation when it comes to fouling. The Hardrockers rank #4 in the country in fewest total fouls and #6 in personal fouls per game. The only other highlight is coming in #26 in DII in scoring defense, limiting opponents to just 57.7 points per game.
 
MOHS SCALE OF MINERAL HARDNESS
When the Orediggers and South Dakota Mines met earlier this season, fans learned that the opponent's Hardrocker nickname refers to a miner who specializes in the extraction of harder minerals as opposed to coal or softer sediment. But, what exactly is considered a "harder mineral". For that answer we look to Mohs scale of mineral hardness which was developed by German geologist and mineralogist Friedrich Mohs. This scale provides one of many definitions of hardness by seeing which minerals can visibly scratch others. According to Mohs scale, talc is the softest mineral and would NOT be mined by a Hardrocker. In the middle of the scale is fluorite, apatite (the hungriest mineral) and orthoclase feldspar – possibly mined by a Hardrocker. Atop the mineral food chain are diamonds which most certainly fall under the definition of "hard rocks". And that's all there is to say about that.
 
THE KING CENTER
Home court for Hardrocker basketball is Goodell Gymnasium at the King Center. With bleacher seating for up to 3,000, Goodell Gymnasium provides a relatively average small college setting for sporting events. Described on SDSMT's website as, "the athletic hub of camps with facilities for athletic teams," the King Center also houses the campus wellness center for all students and the Hardrock Club which provides student-athlete scholarships.
 
SERIES HISTORY
Mines enters the weekend dead-even with both Black Hills State and South Dakota Mines – in the all-time series that is. The Orediggers are 5-5 all-time against BHSU and 4-4 against SDSMT. Furthermore, Mines is 1-1 against the Hardrockers in Rapid City. As of late, the Orediggers have recorded two straight wins over the Yellow Jackets and look to make it a true winning streak this weekend.
 
FIRST-ROUND REVIEW
Round one of the 2018-19 edition between the Orediggers and the schools from South Dakota took place Jan. 18 and 19 inside Lockridge Arena. Mines defeated SDSMT 78-56 on Friday by using a well-rounded attack with five individuals scoring in double digits. Additionally, Anna Kollmorgen dished out five assists and Nicole Archambeau led all players with nine rebounds. On Saturday, Mines took down Black Hills State 67-55. Denali Pinto stole the show in that contest as she led all players with 22 points and also pulled down 10 rebounds for the first double-double of her career. Archambeau also made a double-digit contribution with 13 points of her own.
 
MAKING HER CASE FOR FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR
Fans may be tired of hearing about Denali Pinto, but until teams find a way to stop her, we'll keep talking about her. In addition to leading Mines in scoring with 14.8 points per game, Pinto also ranks #4 in the RMAC in scoring. She's the #1 freshman scorer in the league, #2 among freshman in the region and #9 among freshman in the country. The true freshman already has two double-doubles to her name and dropped 33 points at CSU-Pueblo earlier this season. That performance marks the fourth-most points in a single game by any Oredigger ever. The Boulder, Colo., native also ranks #6 in the RMAC in field-goal percentage and 40.7 on the season and #8 in free-throw percentage as she converts 79.1 percent of her opportunities. Is she a shoe-in for RMAC Freshman of the Year? Maybe not, but she sure is making her case.
 
BUDGE – FROM DOWNTOWN
Senior guard Cassidy Budge entered the 2018-19 season ranked #3 on Mines' all-time three-point field goals list with 148. Following a slow start to the year, Budge has caught fire – gone red-hot – the girl can't miss! Over her last five games, Budge is a combined 17-of-29 from behind the arc. For you non-mathematicians out there, that's nearly 60 percent with 17 three-point field goals made. The Colorado Springs native is averaging 14.2 points per game over that same time and is just six long-range buckets away from tying for #2 on Mines' all-time list. Additionally, Budge is just 18 points away from 900 for her career. While 1,000 may be out of range, it's not unreasonable to think the hot-shooting guard could get herself close.
 
THAT MID-RANGE GAME THOUGH
Sophomore forward/center Courtney Stanton has become absolutely surgical with her mid-range jump shot. She missed the first few games of the year and then worked to find her rhythm. It would appear the practice is paying off. Since Feb. 2 at New Mexico Highlands, Stanton is shooting 56-percent from the field while going 100 percent from the charity stripe. Her season numbers are 44.2 percent from the field and 82.4 percent from the free-throw line – so it's not like she was all that bad to begin with. However, over her last three games Stanton is averaging 16.3 points, 7.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game. That also includes the first double-double of her career. And while the Colorado Springs native has only attempted two three-point shots in her tenure as an Oredigger, opponents should be careful not to doubt her range.
 
RMAC TOURNAMENT PROJECTIONS
To be perfectly honest, it's all a mess. The weekend we hoped would provide clarity did not. Here's what we do know. Colorado Mesa and Westminster have clinched the #1 and #2 seeds – not necessarily in that order. We also know that South Dakota Mines, Chadron State, New Mexico Highlands and Adams State are all mathematically eliminated from getting into the tournament. That leaves 10 potential teams for six remaining spots. However, Mines currently sits alone at #3 and controls its own destiny. Outside of that, anything is possible.
 
DEPARTMENT-WIDE SUCCESS
Across all Oredigger sports in the 2018-19 season, Mines has already won six RMAC regular-season and two RMAC Tournament championships this year. That marks the most regular-season titles ever in a year for Mines Athletics and has already tied the total RMAC championships in a year at eight, set in both 2015-16 and 2016-17.
 
LOOKING AHEAD
Mines returns home March 1 for its regular-season finale and senior night against UCCS inside Lockridge Arena. Tipoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. with senior recognition slated for halftime of the men's game. Live stats and video will be available at www.minesathletics.com.