UCCS (13-14, 12-9 RMAC) at Colorado School of Mines (16-10, 13-8 RMAC) | Friday, March 1 | 6 p.m. | Live Stats | Video
 
THIS WEEK
The University of Colorado Colorado Springs women's basketball team will play their final game of the regular season when they travel to Colorado School of Mines on Friday, March 1.  The Mountain Lions and Orediggers will tip off at 6 p.m. from Lockridge Arena.
 
Both teams squared off against each other on Dec. 1 to open the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference season.  The Mountain Lions earned a 73-69 win over the Orediggers in Gallogly Events Center. 
 
ABOUT THE MOUNTAIN LIONS
UCCS enters the weekend in a three-way tie for sixth place in the league standings with Western State Colorado and Black Hills State University.  A win Friday night guarantees the Mountain Lions a spot in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Tournament. 
 
UCCS has remained at or above the .500 mark in conference games this season and have either swept or split nine of their 10 weekend RMAC series.
 
The Mountain Lions rank in the top half of the league in several statistical categories, including assists (first, 14.8), rebound margin (fifth, +3.4), blocked shots (second, 3.4), free throw percentage (fourth, 71.7 percent), rebounding offense (fourth, 37.9), and three-point field goal percentage (fourth, 35.2 percent).
 
Three Mountain Lions are averaging at least 7.0 points per game.  Madi Gaibler is netting 8.0 points per game and has grabbed 21 steals, the second most on the team behind Tatum Tellin's 13 steals.  Chelsea Pearson and Jae Ferrin are both averaging 7.7 points per game.
 
Pearson has made a team high 50 treys, including 11 games with at least three made three-pointers, and three games with at least five treys. 
    
Kelly O'Flannigan has dished out 79 assists this season, the 13^th highest average in the league (2.9).  Emily Seifert has blocked a team high 22 shots.  Anna Davern in second on the team in blocks with 16.
  
LAST TIME OUT
On Friday in a 66-59 setback to South Dakota School of Mines, the Mountain Lions trailed the Hardrockers for most of the game.  Emily Seifert's jumper at 5:47 in the second quarter gave the Mountain Lions a 23-21 lead, but it would be their last lead of the game as the Hardrockers finished the first half on an 11-2 run to take a 32-25 lead into halftime. 
 
Ferrin led the Mountain Lions with 15 points after making 7-of-8 field goals and 1-of-3 free throws.  Anna Davern and Gaibler each netted 10 points.  Gaibler snagged a team high eight rebounds as Maddie Golla scored all six of her points from long range and added six steals.
 
Both teams hit 26 field goals each.  UCCS attempted 56 to shoot 46.4 percent from the floor, and 21.1 percent from long range (4-of-19).
  
The following afternoon in Spearfish, S.D., Gaibler scored 16 points and pulled down 11 rebounds to record her second career double-double at Black Hills State University, but UCCS lost a 72-57 decision to the Yellow Jackets.

UCCS outscored Black Hills State in the second half, 37-24, but could not overcome a 24-point first half deficit, 48-24. UCCS was out-rebounded on the glass, 43-33, and held to a 32.7 field goal shooting mark (16-of-49).  The Mountain Lions attempted 11 more free throws than BHSU, sinking 19-of-24 (79.2 percent).
 
Gaibler made 5-of-18 field goals and all but one of her free throw attempts.  She added three dimes and blocked two shots in 35 minutes of action. Golla came off the bench to score all nine of her points from three-point range.

SCOUTING COLORADO SCHOOL OF MINES
The Orediggers, who lost both games this past weekend in South Dakota against Black Hill State University and South Dakota Mines, enters Friday's game in a tie for fourth place with Colorado State-Pueblo.  Mines is 16-10 overall and 13-8 in league games.
 
The Orediggers are one of the top rebounding team in the league, out-rebounding their opponents by 8.9 caroms per game.  Their 7.1 scoring margin is the second best in the RMAC, while their 65.6 points per game is fifth most.
 
Individually, Denali Pinto leads the Orediggers with 14.7 points per game, the fifth most by any player in the RMAC.  She is also shooting the ball at a 40.1 percent clip.  Nicole Archambea is pulling down nearly 8.0 rebounds per game (7.9).

HEAD COACH LYNN PLETT
After the first RMAC championship in program history in his first season in 2016-17, Lynn Plett returns for his third year on the sideline for the University of Colorado Colorado Springs. He guided the Mountain Lions to the RMAC Tournament Championship in 2017 and the third straight NCAA Tournament appearance.

In the 2017-18 season, Plett coached All-RMAC honorable mention Shanah Leaf as well as five Mountain Lions who received honors on the RMAC All-Academic team. Last season proved to be a rebuilding year for the Mountain Lions as they lost three starting seniors while adding six new players to the roster. UCCS finished the season with an overall 10-17 record with a 10-12 conference record, which placed the Mountain Lions 10th in the RMAC conference.

Plett coached two All-RMAC First Team student-athletes for the 2016-17 season in Brittany Hernandez and Tori Fisher. The Mountain Lions tied for second in the RMAC standings and won the tournament with the best defensive performance in championship game history in a 53-37 victory against Regis. UCCS advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament in its furthest postseason run since 2015.

Plett spent four seasons at Northern Kentucky, where the Norse qualified for the Women's Basketball Invitational postseason tournament each season during the transition from NCAA Division II to Division I. Prior to NKU, he spent five seasons as the head coach at Missouri Western State University in St. Joseph, Mo. Plett served as the head coach at Lewis University in Romeoville, Ill. from 2002 through 2007.  Plett entered Division II coaching at Saint Joseph's College in Rensselaer, Ind., in 1994, where he also doubled as the athletic director.
 
RMAC TOURNAMENT
To follow the Mountain Lions as they play for a spot in the RMAC Tournament, stayed tuned to www.gomountainlions.com for up-to-date tournament information.