GOLDEN, Colo. - The Colorado State University Pueblo Women's Basketball squad had their nine-game winning streak snapped on Thursday evening at the hands of Colorado School of Mines on the road 62-56 at Lockridge Arena on the campus of Mines.

With the loss, the Pack fall to 11-4 and 6-1 in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play, suffering their first defeat in conference play. With the win for the Orediggers, they improve to 5-10 overall and 3-4 in RMAC play. 

CSU Pueblo remains in first place in the RMAC after Black Hills State University lost on the road this evening to New Mexico Highlands. Both CSU Pueblo and Black Hills State sit at 6-1 in league play.

On a day where Alisha Little (Aurora, Colo./Northern Colorado) was named the 2024 Colorado Collegiate Athlete of the Year, she did not disappoint, as she had another dominant performance. Little finished the night with 25 points, eight rebounds, six blocks, and four steals. Little did have her nine-game double-double streak snapped. Little still leads the country in double-doubles with 11.

While Little proved to be the most dominant player on the court, give credit to Colorado School of Mines, as on the defensive end they held the Pack to just 29 percent shooting, and out-rebounded the ThunderWolves 58-33.

Leading the stat-line for the Orediggers was Jade Leon, as the freshman guard had a breakout night, recording a career-high 20 points on 8-14 shooting from the field. Colorado School of Mines also got great production from Emma Sixta who scored 13 points, and Josephine Howery who scored nine points and pulled down seven boards.

WORDS FROM HEAD COACH TOMMIE JOHNSON
"Give credit to Mines, they made some shot and beat us in all the hustle points. We were outplayed and out-coached and we just did not have it tonight." Johnson also said, "we tried to adjust all night, but on some nights it is just not your night. Mines had (Jade) Leon decide she was going to be the difference maker tonight, and she did just that."

ABOUT THE GAME
The first half looked like the ThunderWolves were going to cruise to their 10th straight victory, as the Pack opened up an 11-point lead with just two minutes to go with a three from Yara Garcia (Scottsbluff, Neb./Western Nebraska), but a late first-half run from the Orediggers gave them life.

With two minutes to play in the first half and Little dominating, Colorado School of Mines closed on an 8-0 run to give the crowd and the Oredigges a fighting chance. Garcia's three put the Pack up 31-20, but back-to-back three's from Sixta and Leon cut the lead down to five with just 30 seconds to play.

A stop from the Orediggers gave them a chance to cut into the lead even more, which they did, as Jessica Rios hit a pull up jumper with three seconds remaining to trail by only three going into halftime.

Mines tied the score quickly out the gates in the second half at 33-33 with another three from Sixta, and the Orediggers ran off with all the momentum. Sixta gave Mines their first lead of the game at 36-35, and never looked back, never trailing for the rest of the game.

The ThunderWolves gave a lot of effort the rest of the second half, but just could not generate enough offense outside of Little.

Mines extended their lead to seven at 45-38, but the Pack countered with a mini 4-0 run from Shamahra Henderson (Denver, Colo./Cowley County) to close the quarter, only trailing by three at 45-42 going into the fourth.

Henderson continued to cook, knocking down a quick jumper to start the fourth, cutting the lead down to just one. Mines once again had a run in them, going on a 7-0 run to extend the lead to eight. The closest the ThunderWolves ever got the rest of the game was four at 54-50. 

Mines closed out the ThunderWolves 62-56 to pick up the upset win.