GOLDEN, Colo.  Western Colorado will look to pull of another upset victory on Tuesday, Mar. 1 when they take on the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Champions No. 20 Colorado School of Mines in the quarterfinals of RMAC women's basketball tournament.
 
2022 RMAC TOURNAMENT BRACKET
LAST MATCHUP AGAINST THE OREDIGGERS – BOX SCORE

• The last time the Mountaineers took on Colorado School of Mines, Saturday, Feb. 12, the Orediggers came out on top defeating Western 65-50. The Mountaineers led after two quarters, holding a 27-24 lead at halftime. Things changed drastically in the third quarter for Colorado School of Mines outscoring Western 23-7, which propelled them to the victory.
• Emmery Wagstaff was the leading scorer for the Mountaineers scoring 12-points in the game, and Katie Dalton and Samantha Coleman each pitched in with nine-points each. Natalie Jojola, Rachel Cockman were also factors in the game, both scoring seven-points.
• Turnovers played a huge factor in the loss, as Western had 25 in the game compared to only 10 for the Orediggers. The Mountaineers shot 37.8-percent (14-37) from the field, 28.6-percent (6-21) from three and 66.7-percent (16-24) from the free throw line in the game.
• Courtney Stanton, Ashley Steffeck and Denali Pinto were the driving behind the win, scoring 16, 13 and 10-points in the game. On the defensive end, Sammy Van Sickle was all over the place recording five steals in the game. Steffeck also got her hands on the ball multiple times, picking up three steals.
• Colorado School of Mines made 41.8-percent (23-55) of their shots from the field, 21.4-percent (3-14) from three and 88.9-percent (16-18) from the free throw line.

MOUNTAINEERS HEADING INTO THE WEEKEND | SEASON STATS

• While this will be a tough game for Western to win, they have shown they are capable of taking down some of the best in the league – defeating second place Colorado Mesa University (Feb. 24) 69-50. The trio of Dalton, Wagstaff and Coleman were the leading scorers in the victory, scoring 12, 11 and 10-points.
• Wagstaff has been the leading scorer for the Mountaineers in the month of February scoring 13.3-points per game. Dalton is the next leading scorer with 11.2-points per game. Since returning from her injury Coleman has been averaging seven-points per game.

OREDIGGERS HEADING INTO THE WEEKEND | SEASON STATS

• Colorado School of Mines will have a ton of confidence tomorrow (Mar. 1), because on Saturday, Feb. 26 they became the RMAC regular season champs by defeating CSU Pueblo 53-40. The Orediggers are currently on a two-game winning streak – their last loss (Sat., Feb. 19) coming against Colorado Mesa (81-74).
• In that game things were dead even at halftime, both teams having 34-points. But the Mavericks took over the game in the third and fourth quarter, outscoring Colorado Mesa, 19-17 in the third and 28-23 in the fourth.
• Denali Pinto is the leading scorer for the Colorado School of Mines averaging 14.3-points (No. 5 RMAC). Courtney Stanton is the next highest scorer averaging 10.9-points (No. 15) RMAC. Defensively, the Orediggers have two of the best defenders in the terms of steals, as Steffeck averages 4.2 steals per game and Van Sickle averages 2.7.

ON THE COURT NEXT
The winner of this matchup will be back in action on Friday, Mar. 4 for the semifinals, with the Championship game taking place the next day (Mar. 5)