COLORADO MINES WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Game Notes - Week #6
vs. Southern Colorado, 1/10/03, Golden, Colo., 6:00 pm
vs. New Mexico Highlands, 1/11/03, Golden, Colo., 6:00 pm

PROBABLE STARTERS
No. Name Pos. PPG RPG APG FG%
23 Karen Martin F 2.6 3.3 1.3 .306
24 Katie Gaudutis G 9.1 1.0 1.4 .405
30 Heather Hoops G 2.9 1.8 1.9 .200
32 Heather Angel F 7.8 5.3 1.5 .358
55 Ashley Gronewoller C 7.2 6.7 0.7 .509

OFF THE BENCH
No. Name Pos. PPG RPG APG FG%
15 Jessica Neumiller G 5.2 1.8 0.6 .405
20 Kristen Horkey G/F 6.0 1.9 1.2 .457
22 Kim Kilmer G/F 1.7 2.0 0.6 .133
25 Bara Zhanasova C 2.6 2.3 0.2 .280
33 Cathy Sauter F 2.3 1.3 0.2 .333
42 Gina Cornelio F 0.5 0.8 0.2 .000
45 Katie Cunio C 6.8 6.0 0.6 .528

THE HEAD COACH
Vic Doperalski is in his tenth season as the women’s basketball coach at Colorado School of Mines, and his 26th year overall as a basketball coach. During his nine years at the helm for the Orediggers, Doperalski has accumulated an 87-165 record, guiding the team to the three winningest seasons in CSM history. Last season, Doperalski led CSM to an overall record of 16-11, including a 10-9 mark in the RMAC. In addition, the Orediggers racked up 11 wins in both the 1994-95 and 1995-96 seasons.

LAST TIME OUT (1/3/03): Mesa State placed three players in double-figures en route to a 72-47 victory over Colorado Mines in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference women’s basketball action on Friday night. Mesa started quick as it claimed a 9-0 lead six minutes into the contest and a 15-5 advantage with 11:15 to play in the first half. The Orediggers would cut the Maverick lead to nine points on two occasions late in the first half, but would get no closer the rest of the game. Junior guard Jessica Neumiller led Mines with eight points, while freshman center Ashley Gronewoller added six points and six boards. Junior center Katie Cunio grabbed a team-high nine rebounds.

WINDEX WASHER: CSM freshman center Ashley Gronewoller has been strong on the boards during her first season of college basketball as she leads the squad and is ranked 11th in the RMAC with 6.7 rebounds per game. Over her last four games, Gronewoller is averaging 10.5 boards per game, including a career-high 14 in a loss to Western State on Dec. 14. In addition to being the team’s leading rebounder, she is also ranked third on the squad in scoring at 7.2 markers per night and leads CSM and is tied for third in the RMAC with 1.0 blocked shot per game.

NEW FOUND LIFE: Junior guard Jessica Neumiller provided Mines with a recent spark off the bench in the two games last week. Against St. Cloud State, she scored a season-high 11 points as she connected on 3-of-6 three pointers. She then came off the bench to score a team-high eight points in Saturday’s loss at Mesa State. For the season, Neumiller is averaging 5.2 points per game and is also shooting 40 percent from three-point range.

STINGY “D”: Despite its 1-9 record, Mines has provided its opposition with solid defense this season as the Orediggers rank seventh in the league in scoring defense surrendering 62.3 points per game. In addition, Mines is ranked fourth in the RMAC in field goal percentage defense (.384) and third in the conference in three-point field goal percentage defense (.262).

HOOP IT UP: Sophomore guard Heather Hoops has provided the team with solid all-around play from her point guard position this season. A starter in eight of the ten games this season, Hoops currently leads the team with 19 assists and is also averaging 2.9 points, 1.8 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game.

SCOUTING THIS WEEKS COMPETITION:
Southern Colorado enters play this week at 5-6 overall and 1-2 in the RMAC following a split at home last weekend. On Friday, the Thunderwolves fell to Nebraska-Kearney before defeating Fort Hays in overtime on Saturday. For the season, Nadia Fercha leads USC as she is the top scorer (18.5 ppg) and rebounder (9.5 rpg) in the conference. Coty Kirkpatrick tallies 13.6 points and 7.2 boards per game, while Alicia Uresk posts 10.9 points and 4.6 rebounds per night. As a team, USC is shooting 40 percent from the field, 28 percent from three-point range and 66 percent from the charity stripe.

New Mexico Highlands enters play this week at 1-7 overall and 0-3 in league play after losses to Nebraska-Kearney and Fort Hays State at home last weekend. For the season, Tara Podpah is leading the squad as she ranks second in the RMAC in scoring with 17.4 points per game. Terry Salazar is tallying 9.5 points per game, while Jamie Granger is ranked fourth in the RMAC with 8.0 rebounds per game. As a team, the Cowgirls are shooting 36 percent from the field, 27 percent from three-point range and 60 percent from the free throw line.