GUNNISON, Colo. --- The Western Colorado women's basketball team won its first postseason game since 2012 as the Mountaineers held off South Dakota Mines 77-69 on Tuesday in the opening round of the RMAC Tournament at Paul Wright Gym.
The third-seeded Mountaineers (14-4 overall) advance to take on seventh-seeded Black Hills State 7:30 p.m. Friday at Colorado School of Mines in Golden. The Yellow Jackets upset No. 2 Westminster 71-66 on Tuesday in Salt Lake City.
As for Western's game on Tuesday, it bounced back after trailing 20-17 following the first quarter by outscoring the Hardrockers (10-9) 23-6 in the second quarter to take a 40-26 lead into the half.
But South Dakota Mines outscored the Mountaineers 19-5 to open the third quarter to tie the game at 45 after an Anna Combalia 3-pointer with 3:08 remaining in the period.
However, the Mountaineers bounced back as a bucket by
Hannah Cooper followed by a 3-pointer from
Courtney Humbarger again made the lead five before going into the fourth quarter with a 57-48 lead thanks to an
Emmery Wagstaff 3-pointer with seven seconds left in the period.
The Western lead grew to 10 points early in the fourth quarter before the Hardrockers again battled back, going on a 10-0 run to tie it at 59 with 6:38 remaining.
Mikaela Parker broke the run for Western with a basket - one of three consecutive baskets she scored for the Mountaineers. Still, the Mountaineers led by just four in the final minute before Cooper drove and dished to an open
Samantha Coleman who drained a 3-pointer from the corner with 24 seconds remaining to make it 73-66 Western. The Mountaineers held on from there to advance to the RMAC semifinals.
Cooper filled up the stat box for the Mountaineers with 16 points, eight assists, five steals and three blocks in 38 minutes. Coleman had 16 points - going 4-for-6 from 3-point range.
Courtney Humbarger had 11 points and six rebounds,
Jadyn Kanzler had 11 points and four rebounds while Parker finished with 10 points and three rebounds.
The Mountaineers forced South Dakota Mines into 21 turnovers - scoring 27 points off those turnovers (the Hardrockers forced 12 turnovers, scoring 19 points off of those).
Naomi Hidalgo led the Hardrockers with 27 points.
