COLORADO SCHOOL OF MINES
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL WEEKLY NOTES #7

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Colorado School of Mines at Colorado State-Pueblo
Friday, January 9, 2004
6:00 pm • Pueblo, Colo.

Colorado School of Mines at New Mexico Highlands
Saturday, January 10, 2004
6:00 pm • Las Vegas, N.M.

No. Probable Starters Ht. Yr. Hometown PPG RPG APG
20 Kristen Horkey 6-0 Jr. Fort Collins, Colo. 5.3 2.6 1.4
22 Kim Kilmer 5-9 Jr. Stoneham, Colo. 6.8 3.9 2.9
30 Heather Hoops 5-8 Jr. Golden, Colo. 4.4 2.1 2.1
32 Heather Angel 5-11 So. Littleton, Colo. 11.3 5.6 1.7
44 Ashley Gronewoller 6-3 So. Pagosa Springs, Colo. 15.8 9.1 0.3

No. Off the Bench Ht. Yr. Hometown PPG RPG APG
14 Lindsay Orchard 5-8 Fr. Salt Lake City, Utah 0.9 0.3 0.2
15 Jessica Neumiller 5-5 Sr. Casper, Wyo. 6.6 2.2 0.9
25 Bara Zahnasova 6-0 Sr. Boulder, Colo. 1.3 2.0 0.2
40 Shannon Griep 5-10 Fr. Longmont, Colo. 0.4 0.4 0.6
42 Gina Cornelio 5-10 Jr. Tucson, Ariz. 4.3 4.5 1.4
45 Katie Cunio 6-0 Sr. Canyon City, Colo. 3.2 4.9 0.4
55 Angela Pearson 6-0 Fr. Arvada, Colo. 1.5 2.1 0.0

THE HEAD COACH: Paula Krueger was named the head women’s basketball coach at Colorado Mines on July 7 after serving a six-year stint at Northern State as an assistant coach.
A graduate of Northern State, Krueger was a standout on the basketball court as she earned national tournament MVP honors as a senior during Northern’s national championship campaign in 1993-94. Krueger was also a team captain and all-district performer on NSU’s softball team. She earned NSU’s prestigious Hildred Wolfe Student Athlete of the Year award as a senior.
Following her successful athletic career, Krueger served as a graduate assistant at Northern from 1995-96 for women’s basketball and softball while finishing up her studies. She received her bachelor’s in education from Northern in 1995 and her master’s in teaching in 1996.
After graduation, Krueger moved to Nevada where she taught and coached at Pahrump Valley High School for one year before returning to Northern State in 1997 to serve as the assistant women’s basketball coach and head softball coach. During her six years as an assistant at NSU, Krueger helped guide the squad to a 114-59 mark.

MINES PICKED SIXTH IN PRESEASON RMAC POLL: The Colorado Mines women’s basketball team was picked sixth out of seven teams in the Preseason RMAC East Division Poll. Nebraska-Kearney was picked to win the division as it received 13 first place votes and 13 points. Fort Hays State was picked second with 34 points, while Regis was third with one first place vote and 36 points. Metro State (45 points), Chadron State (59), Mines (71) and Colorado Christian (85) rounded out the poll.

UP NEXT: CSM will host Adams State on Jan. 16 and Fort Lewis on Jan. 17. Both games are slated for 6:00 pm in Volk Gymnasium.

THE LAST TIME OUT (1/3/04): The Colorado Mines women’s basketball team remained perfect in the RMAC with a 68-50 victory over visiting Mesa State in Volk Gymnasium. CSM raced out to an 11-2 lead after six minutes of action and maitained a 28-19 lead at halftime. Mines extended its lead to double digits (30-19) on a jumper from sophomore forward Heather Angel less than one minute into the second half and would extend the lead to as many as 18 points. Angel finished with a game-high 16 points and seven boards, while senior guard Jessica Neumiller tallied 15 points, including 4-of-8 from three-point land and four steals. Senior center Katie Cunio amassed five points and a career-best 14 rebounds, as the Orediggers held a 47-38 advantage on the glass.

ABOUT COLORADO STATE-PUEBLO: The Thunderwolves enter the week at 5-6 overall and 1-2 in the RMAC after losing games at Nebraska-Kearney (84-71) and Fort Hays State (87-73) last weekend. Quatisha Bailey led the way as she totaled 33 points and 10 boards in the two games. For the season, CSU-Pueblo is led by Bailey who is averaging 14.1 points and 6.4 rebounds per game. Nadia Fercha posts 13.5 points and 8.7 rebounds per night, while Stacy Nutt tallied 9.7 points and 4.6 boards per game. The Thunderwolves shoot 41 percent from the floor and 74 percent from the free throw line.

LAST TIME vs. CSU-PUEBLO (1/10/03): Southern Colorado raced out to a 47-17 halftime lead in claiming an 85-58 victory over Colorado Mines in Volk Gymnasium. USC gained a 23-12 lead midway through the first half and the Orediggers did not manage to cut the deficit under single digits the remainder of the game. Ashley Gronewoller led CSM with 10 points, seven rebounds and four assists, while the Thunderwolves were paced by Coty Kilpatrick who tallied a double-double with 19 points and 12 boards, both of which were game highs.

ABOUT NEW MEXICO HIGHLANDS: The Cowgirls enter the week at 2-7 overall and 0-3 in the RMAC after losing at Fort Hays State (76-45) and Nebraska-Kearney (89-53) last weekend. Tara Podpah amassed 23 points and 12 rebounds in the two losses. For the season, Podpah leads the team in scoring at 11.5 points per game, while Terry Salazar posts 10.2 points per game. Emily Kellett leads the team in rebounding (5.7 rpg). As a team, the Cowgirls shoot 34 percent from the floor and and RMAC low 62 percent from the charity stripe.

LAS TIME vs. NEW MEXICO HIGHLANDS (1/11/03): Colorado Mines forward Heather Angel tallied a double-double with 20 points and 12 rebounds to help lead the Orediggers to an 86-59 victory over New Mexico Highlands in Volk Gymnasium. NMHU jumped out to a 21-10 lead six minutes into the contest as it hit its first six shots of the game. However, Mines responded with a 14-0 run to claim a 24-21 advantage with 11:15 left in the first half and would not trail for the remainder of the game. Tara Podpah led Highlands with 18 points and five rebounds.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Sophomore center Ashley Gronewoller was named the RMAC East Division Player of the Week on Dec.16 after averaging 25.0 points and 15.5 rebounds in two road wins and shooting 76 percent from the floor (16-21).

SUPER SOPH: Sophomore center Ashley Gronewoller is making a strong case for all-conference honors this season. The 6-foot-3 Preseason All-RMAC East Division selection is fourth in the RMAC in scoring (15.8 ppg), second in rebounding (9.1 rpg) and fourth in field goal percentage (.598). She is tied for second in the RMAC with four double doubles.
AN ANGEL AMONG US: Sophomore forward Heather Angel is building upon her strong rookie campaign in which she was an Honorable Mention All-East Division pick. Angel is second on the team in scoring (11.3 ppg) and rebounding (5.6 rpg) and is shooting 48 percent from the floor, an amazing 55 percent from three point land, which leads the RMAC, and 86 percent from the charity stripe.

HOOPER DUPER: Junior guard Heather Hoops is back after earning Honorable Mention All-RMAC East Division honors last season when she posted 5.7 points, 2.0 rebounds and led the team with 51 assists and 35 steals. Hoops has her best game of the season in Saturday’s win over Mesa State as she poured in13 points and added five boards and three assists.

CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARDS: Senior center Katie Cunio has helped the Orediggers win the battle of the boards in seven of the 10 games this season. She has controlled the boards the last three games as she has averaged 10.3 rebounds per game during that stretch, including a career-high 14 rebounds in Saturday’s win over Mesa State.

NEW FACES: Three freshman will join the team this season, guard Lindsay Orchard and forwards Shannon Griep and Angela Pearson.

DOUBLE “K”: Junior guard Kim Kilmer has shown her all-around game this season. She is third on the team in sccoring (6.8 ppg), fifth in rebounding (3.9 rpg) and leads the team with 29 assists. In two RMAC road wins on Dec. 12-13, she averaged 9.5 points, 5.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game.

SOMETHING “NEU”: Senior guard Jessica Neumiller gave Mines a spark off the bench in Saturday’s win over Mesa State. The Casper, Wyo., native delivered 15 points, including 4-of-8 from three-point range, and came up with four steals in 22 minutes of action.

THE DRIVE FOR FIVE: With one more win this season, Mines will surpass last year’s win total of four games.

ROAD WOES: CSM earned its first road win (65-48 at Western State on Dec. 12) since defeating Colorado Christian, 67-48, in Lakewood, Colo., on Feb. 16, 2002. Since that game, the Orediggers were 0-12 on the road, including 0-10 in 2002-03.

LET’S GET 70: The number 70 appears to be the good luck charm for the women’s basketball team. Since the 2000-01 season, Mines is 16-2 when it scores at least 70 points, including 1-0 this season. The last time CSM lost when it scored at least 70 points was Mar. 1, 2003, a 76-71 ovetime loss at Regis.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN: Mines will leave Golden and the friendly confines of Volk Gymnasium yet again this season. The two road games this weekend will mark the eighth and ninth games away from home this year compared to just three games played at home this season.