Feb. 28, 2007

Box Score

DENVER, COLO. - Ashley Mickens and Anne-Marie Torp each had 15 points to lead No. 21-ranked Metro State to a 69-56 victory over Colorado School of Mines in the first round of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference women's basketball tournament, Wednesday evening at the Auraria Events Center.

Metro State has now won five straight over the Orediggers and 10 of the past 11 meetings overall.

Mickens pulled down eight rebounds, while Danielle Ellerington had 10 points and four boards for Metro State. Emily Dalton and Iva Tomova each had 13 points for Colorado School of Mines.

Metro State held an 11-point lead at halftime, 34-23, but the Orediggers came out fighting in the second half, trimming it down to four points, 37-33, with 16 minutes to play. Paige Powers hit a trey to push Metro State's lead back to 10, 45-35, but the Orediggers fought back again, hitting back to back treys by Dalton and Tomova, their first two of the game, to make it a two-point game, 47-45, with 9:10 remaining. The Roadrunners slowly pushed the lead back up and led by 10 again, 62-52, with 3:12 left after Mickens converted a pair of free throws and Mines did not get closer than four the rest of the way.

The Orediggers did not attempt a single free throw in the second half and were just 1-for-2 from the line for the game. Each team had 32 rebounds, while Metro State shot 52 percent from the floor in the second half. The Roadrunners never trailed in the contest. Metro State has now hit a three-point bucket in 109 straight games.

Metro State got off to a quick start, jumping out to a 24-5 advantage less than 10 minutes into the game. Mines started out just 2-for-10 from the floor, while the Roadrunners went 6-for-8 to start. Mickens had eight of Metro State's first 10 points. However, the Orediggers went on a 16-5 run to cut it to eight, 29-21, with 2:25 remaining in the half. Colorado School of Mines had 10 turnovers in the first half, while Metro State was 5-for-11 from long range. Mickens had nine first-half points.

With the win, Metro State improves to 23-5 overall, while Colorado School of Mines finishes its season at 15-13 overall. The Roadrunners take on No. 2-seed CSU-Pueblo in the tournament semifinals, March 3.