Colorado School of Mines guard Denali Pinto scored eight of her game-high 26 points in overtime as the Orediggers fought off a furious second-half comeback by South Dakota School of Mines and grabbed a 77-75 win from the Lady Hardrockers Friday at Goodell Gymnasium.
The loss dropped South Dakota Mines into a tie for 11th place in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference with today's opponent, Colorado-Colorado Springs.
"We've been in this situation a couple time," Mines coach Jeri Jacobson said after Friday's loss. "That's the thing that's frustrating because our team is battling hard. It's frustrating when we don't get the luck of the bounce every once in a while."
Pinto canned two 3-pointers in the opening minute of overtime and Colorado Mines never trailed in the extra session. The first 3-pointer came in a half-court set that got the 6-foot sophomore open on the left wing. The second was a rhythm shot that came from nearly the same spot.
"We knew we had to come out strong," Pinto said of the early look from beyond the arc. "It was mostly that I had an open look in our offense, but I knew my teammates would crash hard for the rebound. After I made the first one, I saw an opening for the second one and let that one fly, too."
The Lady Hardrockers fought back within a point at 75-74 when Michaela Shaklee hit a pair of free throws. Then, after Pinto hit a deep 2-pointer, Shaklee again found herself at the line after drawing a foul after she rebounded her own missed shot. The Mines junior made 1 of 2 charity tosses to make it 77-75 with 1:43 to play.
The teams traded possession, and Colorado Mines had the ball and a two-point lead in hand as time wound down in overtime. But Pinto was hit with a 5-second call as she held the ball near midcourt. The miscue gave the Hardrockers one final look.
South Dakota Mines fought back from 13 points down late in the second quarter behind a smothering defense that held Colorado Mines to 3 of 15 shooting from a field — a 20% clip — during the third quarter.
"Every time we come up here, it's a ballgame," said Colorado Mines coach Brittany Simpson, whose team led 44-34 after two quarters. "So we knew at halftime, 10 points was not enough. They played great in the third quarter, but our kids kept battling."
It was the work the Lady Hardrockers got done on the offensive glass that led to the points that steadily chipped into the Orediggers lead during the third period. Anna Haugen scored 10 of her 16 points in the third quarter, with eight following offensive rebounds by SDM.
"Anna was an absolute beast," said Jacobson, whose team finished with 18 offensive rebounds and 19 second-chance points. "She got us started and then inspired everyone else to really get after it, too."
After an opening quarter that saw the lead exchanged 10 times and three more times the score was tied, South Dakota Mines fell behind when it struggled to get quality looks against Colorado Mines. The Lady Hardrockers made only 5 of 15 field goal attempts.
In the end, the game's fortunes swung on Pinto's timely 3-pointers and the Golden, Colo.-based ball team getting just enough stops.
"I love how hard we battled," said Jacobson, who got 16 points from Weiss and 12 from Sami Steffeck. "That last 25 minutes of basketball is how we need to play the rest of the season."
Gallery: (1/20/2020) Hardrocker WBB vs. Colo. School of Mines
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