With the holiday break concluded, Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference basketball teams dig deeper into conference play this weekend.
For Paula Krueger, fourth-year coach at Colorado Mines (5-6, 2-1 RMAC), a journey Friday to Durango to play Fort Lewis (5-6, 2-2) and a side trip Saturday to Grand Junction to meet Mesa State (9-3, 2-2) could be illuminating.
“It’s a big weekend for all of us because the conference race is closer,” she said. “Last year the parity was tighter and this year it is tighter still. You don’t see the runaway scores any more. It’s a compliment to the whole conference.”
No. 16 Metro State, under fifth-year coach Dave Murphy, is part of that parity. A rising conference power, the Road- runners are trying to challenge Regis for Division II supremacy in the Mile High City.
Regis coach Linda Raunig has posted five consecutive 20-win seasons, NCAA Tournament berths in four of the past five years and a 137-57 RMAC record since rejoining the conference in 1996.
The Rangers went 18-1 in the RMAC regular season last season but were upset at home by the eighth-seeded Orediggers in the first round of the RMAC Tournament.
It was the first time a No. 8 seed beat a No. 1 seed and it was the first RMAC Tournament victory in Mines’ history.
Mines stunned Nebraska- Kearney in the semifinals, then lost in the championship game to another upstart, Colorado State-Pueblo.
Although four Orediggers starters returned this season, their incredible finish didn’t carry over to this season, primarily because of injuries to two starters.
As evidenced by a five-game win streak, Mines is gradually making strides.
“We tried to separate ourselves from last year and gain a new identity,” Krueger said. “We are a different team, and we have a lot of young kids seeing minutes and that has taken time to jell. But we are gaining confidence and momentum. It’s an interesting ride, and we’re getting better with every practice.”
Emily Dalton, the Orediggers’ second-leading scorer with 10.4 points per game on 53.8 percent field-goal shooting and a 5.3 rebounding average, is a freshman from Golden. And new starter Blakelee Midyett, averaging 6.0 points and 4.5 rebounds, is also a freshman from Golden.
At a time when many student-athletes prefer to attend college out-of-town, if not out-of-state, Krueger was thrilled to attract Dalton and Midyett to the engineering school.
“The main credit goes to our institution,” she said. “Both players wanted a good education and were looking for an academic challenge, and both had the academic qualifications.”
Of interest on the men’s side: 17th-ranked Metro State (10-2, 3-1) is at Western State (6-4, 2-1), and Mines (7-3, 2-1) plays at Fort Lewis (8-3, 2-2) and Mesa State (8-3, 4-0).
