THIS WEEK'S MATCHUP

• Coming off their first Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Women's Basketball regular season championship title, the University of Colorado Colorado Springs women's basketball team receives the No. 4 seed after a four-way tie for first place.  The Mountain Lions will play host to No. 5 seed Colorado School of Mines on Tuesday, March 5 at 6 p.m. 
• On the same side of the bracket with UCCS is No. 1 seed Colorado Mesa University who will face off against No. 8 seed Colorado State University Pueblo on March 5 at 5:30 p.m.  The bottom half of the bracket features No. 2 seed Regis University and No. 7 seed Colorado Chrisitan University squaring off at 6 p.m., and No. 3 seed Adams State University meeting No. 6 seed Black Hills State University, also tipping off on Tuesday at 6 p.m.

GAME COVERAGE

• Complete game coverage for Tuesday's game against the Orediggers can be found at the links listed below:
  • Live Stats
  • Live Stream ($)
  • Game Program
  • RMAC Tournament Bracket
  • RMAC Tournament Page
  • Tickets
  • Merchandise

TICKETS

• Fans planning on attending Tuesday's quarterfinal game at Gallogly Events Center will be charged admission.  All fans can purchase tickets online at Hometown Ticketing: https://rmacsports.org/tournaments/?id=236.  Current UCCS and Colorado School of Mines students will receive free admission to the game with their student ID.
• Ticket Prices:

    Adults: $15.00
    Over 65: $10.00
    Children: $10.00
    Under 5: Free
 
RMAC NETWORK

• New to conference championships this year is a paywall for all RMAC championships.  Each game of the 2023-24 RMAC Women's Basketball Tournament will be broadcast live on the RMAC Network for the price of $9.95 per day pass. Each day pass grants access to any tournament game in competition for that given day.

 
RMAC TOURNAMENT HISTORY

• UCCS is 8-8 all-time in the RMAC Women's Basketball Tournament.
• The last time UCCS qualified for the RMAC Tournament was in 2021-22 as the No. 7 seed (L, 79-48 at Colorado Mesa University).
• The last time UCCS hosted a conference tournament playoff game was in 2016-17 as the No. 3 seed.  The Mountain Lions would go on to win the RMAC Tournament Championship that year after downing MSU Denver, Colorado Mesa and Regis.

 
2023-24 REGULAR SEASON IN REVIEW

• Under new leadership with first-year head coach Misty Wilson, the Mountain Lions posted a 3-3 record during the non-conference portion of their season, claiming a season-opening road win at Midwestern State University and two home wins against Point Loma and Baptist Bible College.
• The Mountain Lions started their bid for the conference title in early December with two home wins over South Dakota Mines and Black Hills State.  UCCS closed out the calendar year with four straight road games.  The Mountain Lions nearly upset No. 24 CMU before getting back in the Win column at Westminster.  A crucial setback at CCU on Dec. 16 was followed by a win the next night at Chadron State College.
• UCCS started the New Year with a 59-51 setback at Regis, but quickly righted the ship to win their next four games.  The Mountain Lions were handed a loss to then-ranked No. 7 Colorado School of Mines on Jan. 20, but have won every game since then, ending the regular season on a 10-game winning streak.

NCAA REGIONAL RANKINGS

• In the first set of the NCAA South Central Regional Rankings, UCCS was one of 10 teams listed under consideration to qualify for the NCAA Division II Women's Basketball Tournament.  In the second week of the rankings (Feb. 28), the Mountain Lions were ranked No. 9 overall.
• The 64-team NCAA postseason tournament is comprised of eight teams from each of the eight Division II regions.  The South Central Region is made up of 15 teams from the RMAC and 16 teams from the Lone Star Conference.
• The last regular season rankings will be released on Wednesday, March 6.  The final bracket will be announced on the NCAA Selection Show on Sunday, March 10 at 8:30 p.m. (MT) on www.ncaa.com. 

RMAC LEADERS

• UCCS is one of the top offensive and defensive teams in the league.  Through the regular season, the Mountain Lions posted the sixth highest scoring average out of 15 teams (68.1 points per game) while holding their opponents to the third fewest points (59.8 points per game).
• Defensively, the Mountain Lions are the top ranked defensive team in opponents three-point shooting percentage, keeping their challengers to just a 25.9 shooting percent from three-point range, while holding their opponents to the seconds lowest field goal shooting mark (37.2 percent).  The black and gold are averaging 3.3 blocks and 10.4 steals on the defensive end of the court.
• Offensively, UCCS has the second highest field goal shooting percentage (43.1 percent) and the third best mark from behind the arc (34.7 percent).  The Mountain Lions bench is one of the most productive benches in the league, scoring a league best 29.6 points per game which is the 13^th highest scoring bench in Division II.
• Individually, the duo of Maison White and Amyah Moore Allen are ranked 13^th and 15^th overall in scoring, respectively.  White is pouring in 13.0 points per game while Moore Allen is netting 12.4 on average.
• White's 56.7 field goal percentage is the second highest in the league and her 9.0 rebounds are the third most.  She and Moore Allen wreaked havoc on the defensive end of the court with White averaging nearly one block per game and Moore Allen stealing the ball 1.9 times per game.
• White, who recorded her 10^th double-double of the season on Saturday against New Mexico Highlands, has the third most double-doubles in the RMAC and ranks 46^th in Division II.

RMAC AWARDS

• Junior forward Maison White was voted the RMAC Defensive Player of the Week on Jan. 29 after helping the Mountain Lions earn two home wins against Chadron State College (W, 66-58) and Colorado Christian University (90-68).  White averaged a double-double across the two games with 21 points and 20 rebounds while adding three steals and one blocked shot. 
• The 2024 All-RMAC teams and individual award winners will be announced on Wednesday, March 6 at noon followed by the RMAC All-Academic Teams the following week.

ALL-TIME SERIES

• The Mountain Lions have a 23-22 all-time series advantage over the Orediggers.  Both teams only faced each other once during the season with Colorado School of Mines coming out on top, 77-68, on their home court on Jan. 20.  The last time UCCS defeated Mines was last season inside Gallogly Events Center when the Mountain Lions charted a 67-64 win over then-ranked No. 9 CSM.

SCOUTING COLORADO SCHOOL OF MINES

• The Orediggers entered Tuesday's contest with a 21-7 overall record.  Mines earned the No. 5 seed after posting a 16-6 record in RMAC games.
• After suffering their first loss of the season to No. 24 Texas Woman's University back on Nov. 16, Mines would go on to win their next 12 games.  CSM took their first loss of the conference season to Regis on Jan. 12 but proceeded to win the next four games.  Since then, the once top-10 ranked team in Division II has lost five of their last eight games.
• The Orediggers have the third highest scoring offense in the RMAC, netting 72.1 points per game, but CSM is allowing the third most points in the league (67.9 points per game).
• Mines is the top free throw shooting team in the RMAC, sinking 78.7 percent of their shots when they get to the line (469-of-596).  CSM is accurate from long range, shooting 34.9 percent (224-of-642), making them the second-best deep ball shooting team in the conference, and averaging 2.4 treys per game.
• On the defensive side of the ball, CSM is fourth in the RMAC in steals (9.7 per game) and sixth in blocks (2.6 per game).
• Leading the Orediggers on the court is fifth-year senior Ashley Steffeck.  The four-time RMAC Offensive Player of the Week this season, Steffeck leads the RMAC in free throws (174), free throws attempted (191), steals (85) and steals per game (3.3).  The 5-foot-9 guard ranks third in the RMAC in scoring (19.9), assist/turnover (1.9), fourth in three-point field goal percentage (36.9) and assists (3.5), and 10^th overall in rebounding (6.8).

UCCS UNDER HEAD COACH MISTY WILSON

• Misty Wilson became the Mountain Lions head coach in April 2023.  In her first season at UCCS, Wilson catapulted the Mountain Lions from ninth place in the league standings last year, to a share of the conference title in 2023-24.  With the regular season complete, Wilson has led UCCS to 11 more wins than last season and nine more RMAC wins.  The Mountain Lions finished the 2022-23 season owning a 10-18 overall record and a 9-13 league record, to a 21-7 record this season (18-4 RMAC) heading into the conference tournament.

UP NEXT

• Tuesday's quarterfinal winner will take on the winner between No. 1 seed Colorado Mesa and No. 8 seed CSU Pueblo.  The highest remaining seed following the quarterfinal round will host the RMAC semifinals and championship games on March 8-9.