GOLDEN, Colo. – The Regis University women's basketball team capped off its final game of non-conference play with conference foe Colorado School of Mines but was plagued from the paint in a 69-55 loss at Lockridge Arena on Saturday.
 
How It Happened: The Orediggers held a comfortable 55-39 lead when freshman guard Ashley Steffeck sank both of her free throws to give Colorado School of Mines a 57-39 advantage with 9:22 left in the fourth quarter, which proved to be too much for the Rangers to handle. This made up the middle of a 6-0 run for the Orediggers.
 
Colorado School of Mines led by as many as 27 when sophomore forward/center Megan Van De Graaf hit a free throw with 4:37 to go in the game and made the score, 69-42.
 
Undeterred by the significant deficit, Regis then went on a 13-0 run to close out the game. This started on junior forward Whitney Jacob's 3-pointer at the 4:30 mark of the fourth, which cut the CSM lead to 24, 69-45. Jacob bookended the run on another trey with just 4 seconds left to play in the game to bring the contest to its final score.
 
RU started off well and took an early 3-0 lead on junior guard Emma Sterkel's trey just 11 seconds into the game.
 
This was answered with 8:51 remaining in the first when sophomore guard Denali Pinto's 3-pointer tied the game at 3-3, marking the first of two ties in the contest.
 
The Rangers led by as many as five, 13-8, on freshman guard Kali Murrell's fastbreak layup from the paint with the clock reading 3:14 in the first.
 
After a pair of lead changes, the Orediggers took the lead, which they did not relinquish when junior center Courtney Stanton broke a 13-13 tie at the charity stripe with 1:13 to go in the opening quarter. Stanton made both of her free throws, bringing Colorado School of Mines to 15-13 lead in the midst of 12-0 run.
 
The run started with senior guard Heidi Hammond's jumper from the paint, which trimmed a Regis lead to 13-10 with 2:47 left on the clock in the first, and was capped off by sophomore guard/forward Sammy Van Sickle's 3-pointer with 8:52 in the second. The latter score brought CSM to a 20-13 advantage.
 
RU last came within a basket of tying the game again when Jacob successfully converted both her free throws for a 40-38 deficit with 4:11 to go in the third quarter. However, the Orediggers closed out the third on a 15-1 run, which started with a pair of Van Sickle free throws with 3:06 left and finished with 8 seconds remaining on a Pinto layup for a 55-39 lead.
 
Game Notes: Jacob led the Rangers with a team-high 18 points to go along with four rebounds. She went 7 for 8 (87.5 percent) from the free-throw line. Senior forward Jaz'Myne Snipes had a team-high eight rebounds. Snipes also finished with two points, one steal and a share of the team-high one block. Junior forward Grace O'Neill was all over the stat sheet with her 12 points, two rebounds, team-high two assists, and share of the team-highs of two steals and one block. Freshman forward Sydney Speights contributed two points and matched O'Neill both for the team-high two steals and one block.
 
Colorado School of Mines held Regis to a 15-for-51 (29.4 percent) effort from the paint and a 7-for-29 (24.1 percent) performance from the arc. In comparison, CSM made 22 of 52 (42.3 percent) from the paint and 10 of 16 (62.5 percent) from 3-point range.
 
RU did have more free throws than the Orediggers, winning that tally, 18-15, even though Colorado School of Mines had a better percentage. The Rangers hit 18 of 25 (72.0 percent), while CSM sank 15 of 18 (83.3 percent).
 
Up Next for the Rangers: Regis falls to a 2-4 record overall. RU will stay local but on the road to begin Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) play when the Rangers visit Metropolitan State University of Denver (1-5) at Auraria Event Center on Friday at 5:30 p.m.