Women’s basketball begins season at Wayne State University

The Women’s Basketball team fell just short of an upset in their 2011 debut against #9 Wayne State University Friday in Wayne, Nebraska.

The Lady Orediggers played solidly during the first half, scoring the game’s first four points and battling in a back-and-forth contest through the first twenty minutes of play.

After falling behind 17-13 midway through the first half, Mines went on a 10-3 run, capped by a three point play by Torey Langas that put the Lady Orediggers ahead 21-20 with just over two minutes remaining in the half. Langas scored Mines’ final seven points of the first half and sent the Orediggers into the break tied at 25.

Mines struggled to find rhythm coming out of the locker room, failing to score their first points until five full minutes into the half. During that stretch, Wayne State scored 11 unanswered points to soar to a double-digit lead.

The Orediggers kept in striking range, though, pulling to within nine on several occasions, but the deficit proved to be too large, and they could not quite overcome their slow start to the half.

A Langas jumpshot with just under four minutes pulled Mines to within three at 55-52 and seemed to sway the momentum. But the Wildcats remained at arm’s length and held on for the 68-57 victory.

Langas led Mines with 17 points, while Angie Charchalis had 15 points and went 3-7 behind the arc. Allie Grazulis led Mines in assists with three.

Mines continued their Nebraska road trip with a game against Northern State University on Saturday. The Orediggers trailed by only two at halftime, 31-29, but once again struggled to open the second half. They fell victim to a 12-4 Northern State run and never recovered, losing 62-50. Courtney Gallo finished with a game high 13 points while Charchalis added nine and Stephanie Fogle had seven.

With the two losses, Mines falls to 0-2 on the season. They return to Golden for their first home game of the season Friday against Montana State. Friday’s game is the front half of a doubleheader at Lockridge Arena; the women play at 6:00 PM followed by the CSM Men’s Basketball team’s season opener at 8:00 PM.