AUSTIN,Texas – Sophomore guard Denali Pinto led all players on the court with 20 points on Saturday night, but it was not enough for the Colorado School of Mines Women's Basketball team as it fell to St. Edward's by a score of 73-65 inside the RCC.
 
Saturday marked Pinto's second straight 20-point outburst. She also added six rebounds, two assists and two steals in the effort. Fellow sophomore Megan Van de Graaf had herself a night as well, dropping a career-high 11 points while grabbing six rebounds and dishing out one assist with one steal. Ashley Steffeck was the defensive leader. She grabbed 11 rebounds including seven on the defensive glass, and blocked two shots. Liz Holter's four assists were tops on the team for a second consecutive night.
 
Despite the loss, Mines (0-2) was a perfect 11-for-11 from the free throw line and out-scored St. Edward's (2-0) in the paint by a margin of 24-18. The Orediggers also added 16 second-chance points, 15 points off turnovers and 13 points off the bench while out-rebounding SEU 44-32. However, 18 turnovers and the Hilltoppers' second-half shooting percentage of 50 percent proved to be the difference.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Saturday night proved to be a tale of two halves. The first two quarters were all Orediggers and mostly Pinto. The sophomore scored 11 points in the first period and five more in the second to finish the opening 20 minutes with 16 points. Mines shot 55 percent from the field in that same span and held St. Edward's to 20 percent from the floor. Pinto's scoring outburst was fueled by a 3-for-5 mark from long range while Steffeck provided support on the misses by way of seven first-half rebounds.
 
However, the Hilltoppers adjusted to Pinto's offensive pressure during the break and held her to only four points in the second half. All four of those points came at the free-throw line. Sammy Van Sickle and Courtney Stanton did their part to pick up the slack. The duo combined for 12 points in the last two quarters and went 6-of-13 from the floor. Unfortunately, SEU heated up on offense and dropped 42 points over the last 20 minutes thanks to 13 makes on 26 attempts. Five of those baskets were three-pointers. Just two misses from the free-throw line helped the home team protect its home court.
 
COACH'S COMMENT
"We played a lot better today," said Head Coach Brittany Simpson. "I am proud of how we responded to the challenge we had today. It was a well-played basketball game and hopefully we continue to get better."
 
NOTABLES
- Mines is now 2-2 against St. Edward's in the conference crossover series.
- Through two games, Pinto is averaging 22 points per contest.
- Van de Graaf's previous single-game scoring high was 10 points last season at CSU-Pueblo.
- In 2019, Pinto is flawless from the free-throw line (11-11).
- Steffeck leads all Orediggers with 16 rebounds at a clip of 8.0 per game as a true freshman. She's also averaging three steals per game.
- Head coach Brittany Simpson is 113-90 in eight years at the helm.
 
WHAT'S NEXT
Mines returns to action Nov. 22-23 at Seattle Pacific in Washington. Live stats and video 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. Fans can also follow Mines Women's Basketball on Twitter and Instagram using the handle @MinesWBB.