GOLDEN, Colo. – The Colorado School of Mines Women's Basketball team dominated UCCS on Monday afternoon in an 80-47 victory for the Orediggers inside Lockridge Arena.
 
For a second straight game, every active Oredigger contributed to the victory as 11 players entered the game for Mines with nine individuals in the scoring column and nine more grabbing at least one rebound. Liz Holter led all players on the court with 17 points and four assists. She added six rebounds as well. Megan Van de Graaf was right behind with 15 points on 6-of-7 shooting while grabbing four rebounds. Raven Herrera and Courtney Stanton tallied 11 points apiece, and Sammy Van Sickle dropped 10 to make it five Orediggers scoring in double digits. Herrera also led all players on the glass thanks to seven rebounds to go along with three assists and two steals.
 
Overall, Mines (7-2, 6-2 RMAC) dominated nearly every facet of the game. The Orediggers shot over 45 percent from the floor and held UCCS (1-4, 1-4 RMAC) 32-percent production including 11 percent from behind the three-point arc. Mines produced 19 assists as a team compared to eight from the Mountain Lions. The home team's size reigned supreme in the paint as evidenced by a 48-27 rebounding margin. Twenty of the Orediggers' rebounds came on the offensive glass.
 
Defensively, Mines forced 20 UCCS turnovers behind 10 steals and converted 27 points off those turnovers. The Mountain Lions were limited to nine points off turnovers and zero points off of second chances. Back-to-back wins for the Orediggers put them solidly in fourth place in the RMAC standings, just fractions of a game out of first place.
 
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Monday brought about a most rare occurrence for the Orediggers and for Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference basketball as a whole. Not only was there a contest on a Monday, but it was played at noon local time. Indeed, the holiday celebrating Civil Rights Leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. provided a weekday with no classes and allowed Mines to host UCCS in the Orediggers' first home game of 2021. Fans of the home team who tuned in on the RMAC Network were not disappointed.
 
Colorado School of Mines dominated the matchup from start to finish, and it started with a jump shot from Courtney Stanton just 12 seconds into the game. If not for UCCS's tying bucket 24 seconds later, the Orediggers would have recorded a wire-to-wire win on its home court. Needless to say, neither team scored for three minutes after the opening volley. Holter broke the silence on a jump shot in the paint to make it 4-2 in favor of the home team and Mines never looked back.
 
After one quarter of action, the Orediggers touted a 16-8 lead thanks to six points off the hands of Stanton with three rebounds from Ashley Steffeck and four steals as a team. Mines proceeded to extend its lead to 42-18 by halftime. The push was fueled by Holter's 11 points in the second quarter as she finished the first half with 15 points. Holter also provided two assists which both went to Van Sickle who went 2-for-2 from long range in the second period.
 
Mines did not let up out of the break. In fact, the Orediggers took a run that started in the second quarter and made it a 27-5 surge halfway through the third quarter. That gave the home team its largest lead of the game at 58-21 with 4:41 remaining in the third frame. While it was also one of UCCS's most successful periods, Mines staved off the visitors behind 52-percent shooting from the floor and seven, third-quarter points from Van de Graaf. The same story continued into the fourth quarter as the Oredigger bench received a healthy dose of quality minutes. The home team complimented its offensive production down the stretch by holding the Mountain Lions scoreless over the final 2:40 to keep the final opposing score under 50 for the third time this season. Herrera served as Mines' fourth-quarter star by scoring seven points and grabbing six rebounds in just five minutes of action.
 
NOTABLES
- Mines' win over UCCS moves the Orediggers to 21-22 in the all-time series and avenges a 70-49 loss in last season's regular-season finale.
- The Orediggers' 80 points mark their highest scoring output so far this season.
- Holter surpassed 500 points in her collegiate career. She now has 339 points at Mines after scoring 171 in two seasons at NCAA Division I Incarnate Word.
- Van de Graaf's 15 points against UCCS are a season high for the junior forward. She only missed on shot in the game including going 3-for-3 at the free-throw line.
- True freshman Quincey Baum matched her career high with three rebounds and recorded the first assist and first two steals of her career in Monday's victory.
- Stanton's 11-point day moved the senior over 100 points for the season. She's now second on the team in scoring at 12.0 points per game.
- Denali Pinto scored seven points against UCCS to take over ninth place on Mines' all-time scoring list at 1,075 points for her career.
- Additionally, Van Sickle crossed the 400-point threshold for her career and Loralee Stock moved over 100 points in less than two seasons.
- Six of the Orediggers' seven wins in 2020-21 have come by double digits.
- Mines is 5-0 when holding opposing teams to less than 55 points so far this season.
- Coach Simpson is 139-99 in her ninth season as head coach.
 
WHAT'S NEXT
The Orediggers' next action is this Friday and Saturday, Jan. 22-23 at Colorado Mesa and Westminster. No spectators are expected, but live stats and video will be offered for free at www.minesathletics.com.
 
Fans can keep up with Mines women's basketball on Twitter 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.