DENVER, Colo. – The Regis University women's basketball team completed its postseason title sweep on Saturday, defeating the Colorado School of Mines, 65-61, and complete the feat for the first time since 2006-07.
Junior guard Erin Fry led the Rangers (25-6) with a tied season-high 24 points with senior forward Sam Deem collecting a double-double over the Orediggers (24-6).
"It's not even real yet. The toughness component, those were the same keys with Adams State and valuing the basketball. Mines is an excellent defensive team, a great team," said Regis women's basketball head coach, Molly Marrin. "Brittany [Simpson] does an amazing job, she's been coach of the year I don't know how many times in the last five. To compete with them like we have and beat them twice and in this tough battle of a game is huge. We love playing against them because we know it's going to be physical and respectful.
How It Happened: A fast start for the Orediggers meant that the Rangers had to show out in the second, and show out they did. A back-and-forth game between the two top teams in the league came down to the final 10 minutes.
The Rangers inflated their lead to as many as nine, doing that two times over against a strong
Mines defense. Regis' offense in the second quarter was led by sophomore guard Athena Saragoza who had 10 points in those 10 minutes.
"She's such a glue for us. She's that pure shooter that keeps teams honest," said Marrin. "We've got the inside players and then we have this glue that plays inside and out. Athena keeps everybody honest and hits big shots when we need them."
Going into the half up 37-32, the Orediggers started to claw their way back and took the lead back three different times in the third quarter to set up a game that would be decided by the final 10 minutes.
A staunch Rangers defense took the reins in the fourth quarter and the Colorado School of Mines never saw the lead again after the 8:28 mark. The Regis defense strung together 14 rebounds, two of which were offensive rebounds, to limit a Mines team that spent the season shooting 41 percent on average, to 32 percent.
Back-to-back layups from Fry put the Rangers ahead, 56-53 at the 7:02 mark. With another jumper from the RMAC Player of the Year, the Rangers kept the game out of the Orediggers reach at 56-532 with another 11 rebounds to prevent any more Mines points. With a made free throw at the :02 mark, graduate student forward Erin Stroberg sealed the win for the Rangers.
Game Notes:
- Deem, Stroberg, senior guard Josey Ryan, and Fry were all named to the RMAC All-Tournament team, with Fry being named the RMAC Tournament MVP.
Up Next: The Regis Rangers will learn about their NCAA South Central Regional seeding during the NCAA selection show on Sunday at 8:30 p.m.
