Colorado School of Mines vs. N.M Highlands
Friday, December 15, 2006 - 6:00 pm
Volk Gym - Golden, Colo.

Colorado School of Mines vs. Western New Mexico
Saturday, December 16, 2006 - 6:00 pm
Volk Gym - Golden, Colo.

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THE HEAD COACH: Paula Krueger is in her fourth year as the head women’s basketball coach at Colorado School of Mines. Last year, Krueger led the Orediggers to a 16-14 overall mark, including an 8-11 record in the RMAC. However, she saved her best work for late in the season as CSM was the last team to qualify for the RMAC Tournament as the No. 8 seed. The eighth-seeded Orediggers travelled to top-seeded Regis and handed the Rangers a 71-57 setback. It marked the first time in the history of the RMAC Tournament that an eighth-seeded team defeated the top-seeded team. It was also the first win in program history in the RMAC Tournament. CSM then went on to defeat Nebraska-Kearney, 67-61, in the semfinals before falling to CSU-Pueblo, 65-54, in the championship game. 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. In addition, 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 State 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. Following 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.

No. Probable Starters Pos Ht. Yr. Hometown PPG RPG APG
5 Sara Eickelman G 5-8 So. Pueblo, Colo. 7.6 2.9 1.4
15 Emily Dalton F 5-11 Fr. Golden, Colo. 9.7 4.4 0.1
23 Iva Tomova G 5-8 Sr. Varna, Bulgaria 14.9 3.0 1.3
33 Kelsey Crist F 5-11 So. Buena Vista, Colo. 5.0 2.4 0.6
55 Angela Pearson C 6-0 Sr. Arvada, Colo. 4.7 6.3 0.6

No. Off the Bench Pos Ht. Yr. Hometown PPG RPG APG
14 Elise Goggin G 5-4 So. Colorado Springs 1.8 0.2 0.0
20 Amanda Adams F 5-7 So. Evergreen, Colo. 0.7 1.6 1.1
22 Emily Przekwas G 5-5 Jr. Littleton, Colo. 2.7 1.6 1.1
24 Julie Marshall G 5-6 So. Billings, Mont. 3.1 0.3 0.9
25 Bailey Christenson G 5-5 RFR. Boulder, Colo. 0.3 0.4 0.0
31 Liz Jeffries F 5-9 Jr. Castle Rock, Colo. 3.6 3.2 1.2
32 Kaitlin Soehner G 5-8 Fr. Idalia, Colo. 0.0 0.0 0.0
40 Shannon Griep F 5-10 Sr. Longmont, Colo. 1.5 0.7 0.0
42 Brecca Gaffney C 6-1 Fr. Greeley, Colo. 4.0 5.3 2.0
44 Savannah Afoa C 6-1 Fr. Anchorage, Alaska 3.3 3.3 0.0

CSM PICKED FIFTH IN RMAC PRESEASON POLL: The Colorado School of Mines women’s basketball team was picked fifth in the 2006-07 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Women’s Basketball East Division Preseason Poll. The Orediggers received 55 total points to finish behind East Division favorite Regis University and runner-up Metro State. Regis received 10 first place votes and 18 total points, while Metro garnered two first place votes and 27 total points. Nebraska-Kearney finished third with 32 points and was followed by UC-Colorado Springs (54), MINES (55), Chadron State (74) and Colorado Christian (83).

LAST TIME OUT (11/17/06-11/18/06): The Colorado School of Mines women’s baskeball team dropped their first Conference game of the season when they traveled to Gunnison, Colo. Thursday night to face Western State. Mines fell to the Mountaineers 78-55. Mines turned around Saturday night defeating Colorado College71-44. The win was the Orediggers first of the season and is hopefully a sign of things to come.

INJURIES PLAGUE MINES: Injuries have slowed the Orediggers down so far this season, One of their top freshman Brecca Gaffney is out due to an injured shoulder. Gaffney led Mines in their first game against Wayne State with 11 points and seven rebounds. Her play on the court is being greatly missed. Sophomore starter Kelsey Crist is also injured, Crist suffered an ankle sprain and was out for one game, although she is back playing, she is definately not 100% just yet.

ABOUT New Mexico Highlands: Highalnds comes into Mines with the same overall record, 1-6, however the cowgirls hold a better RMAC record of 1-1. The Cowgirls are led by Delischa Utsey who leads the team with 13.4 points per game and 5.1 rebounds. Last year the Orediggers beat Highlands 52-48.

ABOUT Western New Mexico: This is Western New Mexico’s first season in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, and the first time the Orediggers have ever played them. They currently hold an overall record of 1-4 and are 1-1 in the RMAC.

OUT OF THIS COUNTRY: Senior guard Iva Tomova returns for her second season at Mines. A native of Varna, Bulgaria, Tomova transferred to Mines last season after playing two seasons at Northeastern Junior College. This season, Tomova is leading the team, averaging 14.9 points per game.

BE LIKE EICK: Sophomore Sara Eickelman will continue as Mines’ starting point guard this season. As one of the toughest players on the team, Eickelman will be the backbone of the Orediggers this season. Eickelman has gotten the 2006-07 season started off with a bang, Eickelman is averaging 7.6 points per game, third on the team and leads the team with 14 steals and 10 assists.

KELSEY “CRISP” CRIST: After a stellar first season, Kelsey Crist returns this season as one of Mines’ starters. Crist will be play an even bigger role this season as one of the Orediggers top players. After spraining her ankle in practice, Crist was held out of Mines’ first two games. Crist has returned to action and is averaging 5.0 points per game, fourth for the team.

“Piercing” Pearson: Angela Pearson has one of the toughest jobs this season, replacing standout Ashley Gronewoller. Mines expects big things from the 6-0 center in 2006-07. After being in Gronewoller’s shadow, Pearson now gets her chance to shine and show what she’s all about. Pearson is averaging 4.7 points per game and leads the team with a 6.3 rebounds per game average so far this season.

GOLDEN DALTON: A Golden, Colo. native, Emily Dalton has started her college career off smokin’, she has started the last five games, in place of injured Kelsey Crist, and has showed why she deserves that roll. She is second on the team with an average of 9.7 points per game and 4.4 rebounds per game. Dalton had her best g ame of her life Saturday night against Colorado College, the Freshman ended the night with 18 points.