Pueblo – Midnight has yet to arrive for Cinderella.
The Colorado Mines women’s basketball team, which needed a tiebreaker just to qualify for the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Shootout, is playing in today’s championship game.
The eighth-seeded Orediggers (16-13) advanced by upsetting fourth-seeded Nebraska-Kearney 67-61 on Saturday at the Colorado State Fair Events Center.
“I guess I kind of feel like we could be Cinderella,” senior Ashley Gronewoller said.
But Gronewoller, the Orediggers’ career scoring and rebounding leader, cautioned that her team’s improbable rise has nothing to do with luck.
“We deserve to be here,” she said. “We’re peaking at the right time.”
Mines, which stunned top- seeded Regis on Wednesday, survived a late rally by the Lopers (21-8). It was the Orediggers’ first victory over Nebraska- Kearney in Gronewoller’s four- year career.
“When we won against Regis, I thought more about that it would give us a chance to play Kearney,” she said. “I was thrilled.”
Gronewoller finished with 16 points and nine rebounds. Bulgarian native Iva Tomova did the damage from the perimeter, swishing three 3-pointers to fuel a game-high 21 points.
Mines coach Paula Krueger willed her team to victory with a combination of screaming demands, relentless instructions and wild jubilation. And that was a toned-down effort.
“I’ve made a conscious effort, with help from some outside the program, to keep myself calmer and more composed,” she said.
That effort included responding to a pair of early second-half turnovers with a high-volume plea: “Calm down!”
Said Krueger: “We’ve played with our hearts on our sleeves the last five games and it’s paying off. It all has to do with them, it has nothing to do with me.”
COLORADO MINES (16-13)
Eickelman 1-5 0-0 3, Tomova 7-13 4-4 21, Jeffries 2-3 1-5 6, Crist 2-6 2-2 7, Gronewollewr 7-15 2-5 16, Orchard 0-0 0-0 0, Pearson 6-13 2-4 14. Totals 25-55 11-20 67.
NEBRASKA-KEARNEY (21-8)
Fischer 7-14 3-4 17, Hinkley 2-3 4-4 8, Meads 3-8 3-5 9, Mildenberger 1-4 4-4 6, Modlin 3-6 4-6 10, Schuppe 1-1 0-0 2, Jones 2-3 0-0 5, Mathis 1-4 2-2 4, Eggleston 0-1 0-2 0, Bowen 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 20-44 20-27 61.
Halftime – Neb.-Kearney 31-30. 3-point goals – Mines 6-12 (Tomova 3-5, Jeffries 1-2, Crist 1-2, Eickelman 1-3), Neb.-Kearney 1-8 (Jones 1-2, Mathis 0-1, Meads 0-2, Fischer 0-3). Fouled out – Hinkley, Meads. Rebounds – Mines 33 (Gronewoller 9), Neb.-Kearney 30 (Mathis 6). Assists – Mines 10 (Tomova, Gronewoller 3), Neb.-Kearney 5 (Hinkley, Meads, Mildenberger, Modlin, Jones). Total fouls – Mines 20, Neb.-Kearney 23. A – 1,124.
