Women’s Basketball finishes season in dramatic fashion

Angie Charchalis did it again. With the game on the line, and RMAC tournament seeds up for grabs, Charchalis nailed the game-winner with only nine seconds remaining over the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs securing a crucial 73-71 win.

The Mountain Lions erased a five point deficit with just over one minute left in regulation to tie the game at 71 with only 16 seconds to play. Then Charchalis, just as she had two weeks earlier in a 76-75 win over Colorado Christian, drove into the lane and converted the go-ahead lay up with only nine seconds to play. UCCS had one last gasp to win or force overtime, but a missed lay up as time expired to give the Lady Orediggers their sixth win in the past eight games.

Charchalis’ game-winner capped off a career performance for the red shirt junior. She finished with a career-high 31 points to lead all scorers and became just the eighth player in CSM history to register a 30-point game. Charchalis finished 10-18 from the field and connected on five three point attempts in the win.

Fellow Oredigger Tory Langas’ night was not much different. Langas did not miss a single shot, finishing 5-5 from the field and 6-6 from the free throw line for 16 points. She dominated the boards as well, grabbing 12 boards and earning her first career double double. Langas also secured the rebound on the final UCCS shot, preserving the win.

With the win, Mines has now won four of their last five games and six of the past eight. They finished the regular season with an 11-11 RMAC record, tying for fifth place with UCCS, Colorado Christian and Colorado Mesa. Mines owns all of the tiebreakers by virtue of head to head matchups, earning the Lady Orediggers the fifth seed. They will travel to Gunnison, Colorado, to play Western State in the first round of the RMAC Shootout.

In the first matchup between the two teams, Mines surrendered a season high 83 points to the Mountaineers in a 83-78 loss on January 21. Interestingly, Western State is also the team the Mines men’s basketball team will face in their first round RMAC shootout game. If either the men or the women’s team win in the first round, they will advance to the semifinal round at the Colorado State Fair Events Center in Pueblo, Colorado on Friday March 2.