GOLDEN, Colo. Western Colorado had a balanced scoring attack, led by Ivey Schmidt, while limiting host Colorado School of Mines to three points from its non-starters in Thursday night's 73-64 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference women's basketball victory at Lockridge Arena.

Four players scored in double figures for Western with Schmidt's 23 points leading the way.

JUST THE FACTS
Final score: Western def. CSM, 73-64
Records: Western 11-8 overall (9-4 RMAC), CSM 12-12 (7-6)
Location: Lockridge Arena, Golden, Colo.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• It was nearly a wire-to-wire win for the Mountaineers as Mines owned a lead for a total of 63 seconds, all of those seconds coming within the opening 2 minutes of the game.
• Schmidt scored Western's first three points, sinking all three free throws after getting fouled on a shot from behind the arc.
• Mines answered with a layup for a 4-3 lead but Penelope Urquhart drained a 3-pointer at the 7:48 mark of the first quarter and Western never again trailed.
• The Mountaineers closed out the first with a seven-point lead, a gap that reached as many as 14 points in second half action before Western settled for a 10-point 34-24 lead heading into the halftime break.
• Halfway through the third quarter the Orediggers had trimmed their deficit to three, 37-34, but an 8-1 Western run cooled CSM's momentum, the run keyed by a pair of layups by Rori Hoffmeyer.
• Mines opened the final quarter by pulling to within a layup themselves, 50-48, only to have Western once again respond with another run, this one a game-sealing 13-2 spurt.
• In that run the Mountaineers got 3-pointers from Alyssa Eckroth, Urquhart and Schmidt, sandwiched around a short jumper from Chloe Daniels.

JUST THE FACTS

• Western led for a total of 38 minutes, 7 seconds – in a 40-minute game.
• The Mountaineers hit nine 3-pointers to Mines' 5 and shot 43% from the floor while holding the Orediggers to a 37% night.
• Daniels' three blocked shots led an attack that swatted away a total of eight Mines shots.
• Schmidt paced Western with her 23 points, but the Mountaineers spread the wealth on the night as both Jayda Maves and Eckroth scored 12 apiece and Urquhart chipped in with 11 points.
• Western entered the game with a one-game lead over Mines and MSU Denver in the RMAC standings. The win, coupled with losses by both Mines and MSUD on Thursday night, gives Western and UC Colorado (9-4 RMAC) breathing room in the standings, both tied for fourth place.

UP NEXT
Western will try to put even more distance between itself and MSU Denver as the Mountaineers play the Roadrunners Saturday afternoon at their Auraria Event Center.