Mines (6-4, 3-2 RMAC) at #12 Westminster (10-1, 5-0 RMAC) – Friday, 5:30 p.m. – Salt Lake City, Utah [Live Stats] [Live Video]
Mines (6-4, 3-2 RMAC) at Dixie State (8-3, 3-2 RMAC) – Saturday, 5:30 p.m. – St. George, Utah [Live Stats] [Live Video]
ON THE RMAC NETWORK
Every Mines home game and all RMAC contests 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".
HERE'S THE DEAL
With the new year and new decade under way, the Colorado School of Mines Women's Basketball team heads to Utah this weekend for a pair of key RMAC matchups. On Friday, the Orediggers start their trip against nationally-ranked Westminster in Salt Lake City. The journey closes Saturday with a showdown at Dixie State in St. George, Utah. Mines enters the new year riding a three-game win streak as they face off against the #1 and #5-ranked teams in the conference. Two wins give the Orediggers a look at a spot in the top four in the league standings. Anything less and Mines could see itself drop all the way to #9 in the league. The holiday break is officially over and the RMAC grind has resumed.
LAST TIME OUT
Mines' last action was Dec. 21, 2019 at home against UCCS. The Orediggers grinded their way to a 64-61 victory over the Mountain Lions, which upped their winning streak to three consecutive games.
Denali Pinto led all players with 22 points while grabbing six rebounds and dishing out three assists.
Courtney Stanton contributed 15 points, six rebounds and two blocks. The duo of
Sammy Van Sickle and
Liz Holter dropped 10 points apiece and Van Sickle notched 10 rebounds for the double-double. Van Sickle also led all players on four assists while putting up two blocks. Holter came away boasting four steals, five rebounds and three assists. The win improved Mines to 20-21 in the all-time series against UCCS and gave the Orediggers its 151st victory of the decade.
SCOUTING WESTMINSTER
Westminster College has not lost a game since the start of conference play. The Griffins enter the weekend ranked #12 in the nation and sit atop the conference standings in a tie with Colorado Mesa. Westminster's last loss came at the hands of Alaska-Anchorage in 69-56 fashion. In fact, it's WC's only loss of the regular season. In RMAC action, the Griffins tout wins over Dixie State, Black Hills State, South Dakota Mines, CSU-Pueblo and New Mexico Highlands. Three individuals average double-digit scoring numbers. Hunter Krebs leads the way at 16.2 points per game with Mariah Martin at 15.1 and Sarah McGinley at 14.4 points per game. McGinley also ranks second on the team thanks to 7.8 rebounds per game. Kaitlin Toluono is tops with 7.9 boards per contest. Martin dishes out assists at nearly 5.0 per game, up to 54 on the season. Kaylee Carlsen owns 19 steals and seven blocks. Krebs has blocked 12 shots. As a team, the Griffin's trademark appears to be three-point shooting. They shoot 38.1 percent from long range which ranks #17 in the nation this season.
FROM PARSONS TO GRIFFINS
Westminster College athletics teams were originally nicknamed the Parsons as an ode to the school's religious (Presbyterian) roots. However, in 1979, the institution went from spiritual to mythical as it became known athletically as the Griffins. Also spelled griffon or gryphon, the school's mascot is a legendary creature featuring the body, tail and back legs of a lion while also sporting the head and wings of an eagle. It is not a real animal and seems appropriate for the school as Westminster College sports teams became mythical in 1967-68 with financial crisis forcing the discontinuation of intercollegiate athletics. The program experienced rebirth starting in the 1990's and eventually joined NCAA Division II and the RMAC in 2015-16.
BEHNKEN FIELD HOUSE
The home for Westminster College basketball and volleyball is Behnken Field House which is housed in the Dolores Dore Eccles Health, Wellness and Athletic Center. Our best shot at an acronym would be DDEHWAC which we're guessing is pronounced "Day-wack". Either way, the following description of the facility comes from www.westminstergriffins.com. The three-story, 84,500-square-foot facility, completed in 2006, houses Griffins Athletics and includes a swimming pool, full complement of fitness equipment, a weight room and exercise studio, and a technically challenging, 46-foot climbing wall. Above a field house that holds 1,200 spectators is a suspended running track with a high-tech surface and corner windows with views. The field house includes an athletic training room, locker rooms, team meeting rooms, coaches offices, and equipment storage space for intercollegiate athletics, including men's and women's basketball, men's and women's cross country, men's and women's golf, men's and women's soccer, and women's volleyball.
SCOUTING DIXIE STATE
Dixie State rolls into the weekend sporting a lot of similarities to Mines. With an identical RMAC record of 3-2, the Trailblazers have also won three straight games. Furthermore, DSU started conference action going 0-2 due to losses against Westminster and South Dakota Mines. Earlier this week, Dixie State hosted Yellowstone Christian in a 76-32 exhibition victory. The Trailblazer's own RMAC wins over Black Hills State, New Mexico Highlands and CSU-Pueblo. Ali Franks leads DSU in scoring thanks to 14.7 points per game. Madi Loftus averages 10.3 points per game. On the glass, Chesney Stevens and Emily Isaacson both pull down 6.5 rebounds per contest. At the point, London Pavlica boasts 39 assists giving her 3.5 per game over 11 contests and only three starts. Pavlica also tops in steals with 16, while Keslee Stevenson boasts eight blocks.
TRAILBLAZERS, REBELS AND BISON – OH MY!
The nickname Trailblazers is relatively new for Dixie State. Originally known as the Rebels, DSU attempted to adopt the nickname Red Storm in 2009 in an effort to distance itself from Deep South associations. The change was unsuccessful and the University made the change to Trailblazers in 2016. The name is defined as, "a person who makes a new track through wild country," while the bison image is a carryover from the Red Storm era and is claimed as, "an authentic and worthy nod to southwestern Utah's hardscrabble history. The bison's name is Brooks which is a reference to the school's first student, Samuel Brooks. And now you know.
BURNS ARENA
Burns Arena is the home of Dixie State basketball and volleyball. The Trailblazers' website touts it as one of the finest collegiate arenas in the nation at the NCAA Division II level. Built in 1985, games were first played in the building in 1986. The facility is named for M. Anthony Burns, a Dixie State alum and former president/CEO of Ryder Systems. There are 4,779 permanent seats spread across 14 seating sections. According to photos, all of those seats appear to be of the seat-back variety. Aesthetically, the court features Dixie State's red around the sidelines with a giant letter "D" at center court with a buffalo head overlapping.
SERIES HISTORY
The all-time series between Mines and Westminster is neck and neck with the Orediggers just one game back at 3-4 overall. While the RMAC portion of the series is relatively new, the all-time series actually began in 1979. The two teams did not meet again until 2015. Since that time, Mines is 3-3 against WC including a pair of double-digit wins in 2017 and 2018. Against Dixie State, Mines leads the way at 1-0. That's right, Saturday marks the second-ever meeting between the Orediggers and Trailblazers. Mines won the inaugural showdown by a margin of 86-81 in Golden last season. In that game,
Denali Pinto led all players with 24 points while
Nicole Archambeau and
Raven Herrera also scored 20 apiece. Also, it's potentially the last-ever meeting between Mines and DSU as the latter heads to NCAA Division I next season.
NEW YEAR FUN FACTS
Friday marks the eight time that Mines has opened a new calendar year with
Brittany Simpson as the head coach. During Simpson's tenure, the Orediggers are 4-3 in new-year openers and average exactly 60.0 points per game while holding opponents to 58.1 points per game. Five of those contests have been on the road with two inside Lockridge Arena. Under Simpson's guidance, Mines boasts an average margin of victory of 11.25 in its first action of a new calendar year with an average deficit of 10.3 in its losses. The Orediggers' biggest margin of victory when playing its first game in a new year under Simpson was a 77-58 victory over Westminster on Jan. 7, 2017. Interestingly, all seven games previously discussed have come against teams with "west" in their name including three versus Western State, one at Western New Mexico and three against Westminster. Fans can file that tidbit under, "things that don't matter."
STILL GOOD AT FREE THROWS
Over the holiday break,
Denali Pinto moved up one spot to #4 in the nation in free-throw percentage. Her season average of 94.2 percent is built on a 65-69 mark at the charity stripe. Those 65 made free throws rank #8 in all of NCAA division II. Those ranked ahead of Pinto in free-throw percentage have at least 20 fewer attempts. That means nobody in all of DII has made more free throws with less misses than Pinto. Additionally, teammate
Courtney Stanton ranks #20 in the nation with her free-throw percentage of 89.7. That duo's production has fueled Mines' team free-throw percentage of 80.0, which ranks #7 in NCAA Division II. No too shabby for a team led by the RMAC's all-time leader in career free-throw percentage.
LOOKING AHEAD
After their trip to Utah, the Orediggers return home Jan. 10-11 for games against Adams State and Fort lewis. Live stats and video of the games will be available at www.minesathletics.com.
Keep up with Colorado School of Mines Athletics all season long on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram using the handle @MinesAthletics.
