Lady Orediggers victorious on senior night

Riding the momentum of a victory the previous night over Black Hills State into last Saturday night’s contest, the Lady Oredigger basketball team looked to extend their run at their final home game of the season against Chadron State on Senior Day. After a tightly contested first half, Mines pulled away in the second half to take the easy 87-63 victory over the Eagles.

The first period of play saw several shifts in momentum for each team and a lead that changed hands on nine different occasions. Mines jumped out to an early 8-7 lead, but the Eagles went on a short run to give Chadron the 15-8 edge. Much of the rest of the half for CSM was spent playing catch-up, as the Eagles held the lead for over 15 minutes of the period. The Orediggers tied the game up at 35 apiece with roughly a minute and a half left in the half, allowing Courtney Gallo’s three point shot with one minute remaining to give Mines the 38-37 edge going into the locker rooms.

Chadron State emerged from the break and briefly retook the lead less than a minute into the second half, but three consecutive hits from beyond the arc by Gallo gave Mines a 47-39 lead, and it was all Orediggers after that. CSM used their excellent shooting in the period to propel them to a 49-26 edge in the second half alone and an 87-63 victory over the Eagles.

Gallo led all scorers with 24 points on the night, 21 of which came from a terrific 7-of-11 mark from behind the three point line. Tory Langas added 14 and Katie Clements put up 11, while, Courtney Martin contributed 13 off of the Mines bench. The Orediggers owned the edge in shooting from the field over Chadron (46.4% vs. 37.7%), as well as a decisive edge from three point range (50% vs. 20.8%). CSM also outrebounded the Eagles 38-34 and committed 10 fewer turnovers in the contest.

The Lady Orediggers have one remaining contest this season, and that is at Colorado Christian on Saturday, March 1. That game tips off at 5pm in Lakewood.