DENVER – The Regis University women's basketball team kept pace with Colorado School of Mines in its final possessions of its second home contest of the 2020-21 season but ultimately fell, 50-48, in a heartbreaker at Regis Field House on Thursday.

"I think with their pressure especially in the first quarter, we knew they were going to pressure us," said head coach Molly Marrin. "It rattled us a little bit, and I think we prepared for it. We kind of lost our composure a little bit in the beginning so I think from the way we started to just clawing back one possession at a time, especially in the second quarter, was extremely impressive."

Senior forward Whitney Jacob paced all scorers and rebounders with game-highs of 19 points and 18 rebounds, respectively. Jacob secured a double-double in the first half alone.

"Her mental toughness has grown tremendously in her career," Marrin said about Jacob. "That, combined with her athletic ability and learning the game and all of those things, just make her a force with that. But she did not take a play off, and I thought she was a beast."

Marrin also mentioned freshman guard Erin Fry as a standout player.

"Erin, stepping up big time for us as a freshman," Marrin said. "There was a lot of pressure on her … I think that's good experience for her moving forward as we go through conference."

How It Happened: Deadlocked at 48-48, sophomore guard Ashley Steffeck drove to the basket and put up a successful layup with just 2 seconds left before the final buzzer to give the Orediggers the eventual game-winning score, 50-48.

"Most times you hold a team to 50 points, you win," Marrin said. "That's something. But, I think it did come down to the end. I thought Mines played really hard. I thought we played really hard. I think the effort was there. It was obviously brutal on the boards, which we knew it was going to be that. I thought both teams were physical."

Less than 3 minutes into the game, the Rangers were at the wrong end of an opening 6-0 run, all on account of points by Colorado School of Mines sophomore guard Loralee Stock. Stock sank a jumper just 13 seconds into the contest. She capped the run with back-to-back breakaway layups on steals with the latter clocking in at 7:17 left in the opening frame.

Regis finally ended the shutout, 6-2, when senior guard Emma Sterkel hit a jumper with 6:54 reading on the clock in the first.

However, CSM answered with an 8-0 run. This run was bookended by redshirt junior forward Raven Herrera, who hit a jumper at the 6:40 mark, before capping the run on a layup with 4:44 left to play in the first.

RU's defense started to find a rhythm and held the Orediggers scoreless for the remainder of the first. In that span, the Rangers rang off a 6-0 run to end the quarter with a 14-8 deficit. Jacob kicked the run off with a jumper with 3:31 to go in the first. Sophomore guard Morgan R. Smith then drilled a trey at the 1:18 mark of the first to end the run.

Regis was not done though. The run blossomed into an 11-0 run, which finally ended on Jacob's 3-pointer to bring RU within a point, 14-13, with 7:40 left in the second quarter.

The Rangers then held Colorado School of Mines scoreless for the rest of the half, which Regis took advantage of in the form of a 9-0 run. A layup from sophomore forward Sydney Speights started it off with 4:40 to go before halftime, and senior forward Grace O'Neill tied the game with a layup, 19-19, at the 3:25 mark of the second.

Finally, freshman guard Madison Diercks gave RU its first lead, 21-19, on a jumper with 2:57 left in the second. Senior guard Tashika Burrell's free throw with only 1:13 remaining in the first half concluded the run, giving the Rangers a 24-19 lead, which they took into the intermission, thereby holding CSM to a five-point second quarter.

The Orediggers proceeded to tie the game, 27-27, on a 6-0 run during the third quarter. Herrera's layup at the 6:18 mark began the run, and a game-tying layup from senior center Courtney Stanton ended the run. Stanton's layup occurred with 4:19 to go in the third.

After Stanton brought Colorado School of Mines to a brief two-point lead on a trey, 32-30, with 1:25 left on the clock in the third, Fry hit a free throw on separate trips to the line with the second one tying the game at 32-32. This was the score at the end of the third with the free throw happening with 26 seconds remaining.

The runs were kept very brief during the fourth quarter with CSM assembling the longest one, a quarter-opening, 5-0 run. Herrera started it with a layup just 31 seconds into the final 10 minutes. Stock's layup at the 9:08 mark brought the Orediggers to their largest second-half lead, 37-32.

After Stock scored on a layup with 2:52 to go in regulation, Regis chipped away at the deficit. This effort started on a Fry free throw with 1:01 left in the game. Jacob then tied the game, 48-48, on her successful trip to the charity stripe with only 28 seconds remaining in the contest.

Game Notes: Jacob scored the aforementioned 19 points and 18 rebounds to go along with a share of the game-high two blocks. She also had one assist. Fry recorded 11 points, three rebounds, a share of the team-high two assists, a team-high two steals, and one block. Speights registered six points, four rebounds, one assist, and a share of the game-high two blocks. Burrell finished with three points, four rebounds, and a share of the team-high two assists.

Shooting was not a huge strength for either team. RU had a 17-for-43 (39.5 percent) showing in the paint, a 4-for-24 (16.7 percent) effort from the arc, and a 10-for-23 (43.5 percent) performance from the free-throw line. In comparison, Colorado School of Mines turned in a 23-for-66 (34.8 percent) outing in the paint, a 2-for-12 (16.7 percent) result from 3-point range, and a 2-for-11 (18.2 percent) margin at the charity stripe.

Up Next for the Rangers: RU falls to a 1-2 record overall and a 1-1 record in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) play. The Rangers next host Fort Lewis (0-2, 0-2 RMAC) at Regis Field House on Friday, Dec. 18, at 5 p.m.

Marrin believes Regis will face competition comparable to CSM when it plays the Skyhawks.

"They're similar," Marrin said. "From what I've seen, they're running kind of the same stuff, but they compete. They led the league, I think, in o-boards last year at 13. It's another rebounding battle … We just need to get better. We've got a young team, and so our focus is on what is our standard, what do we want to be known for, what can we get better at, and how can we get mentally tougher."