Box Score

GOLDEN, Colo. - Metro State rallied from a seven-point deficit with under six minutes left to stun Colorado Mines 55-51 in Golden, Colo., on Tuesday in the quarterfinals of the RMAC Shootout.  The Roadrunners improved to 17-11 overall this season, while CSM fell to 20-8.  The Orediggers' season may come to an end as they sat at No. 8 in last week's Central Region rankings.

Metro State trailed nearly the entire game and put together one of its poorest first halves offensively all season, shooting just 21.1 percent to trail 28-18.  At one point, Metro State trailed 23-7.  The Roadrunners were fortunate to trail by just 10 at the break, but stayed in the game by forcing 15 turnovers and grabbing 12 offensive rebounds.

The Orediggers opened the second half by taking a 13-point lead at 32-19 with 18 minutes left, but freshman Emily Wood (Louisville, Colo./Monarch H.S.) sparked a 9-0 run over the next three minutes as she opened the run with a pair of layups to cut CSM's lead to 32-28.

Mines, however, built its lead back to 11 points at 41-30 with 11:30 to go in the second half.  A turning point in the game came at 11:18 left.  Following 3-point play by Leandra Sands (Long Beach, Calif./Long Beach Wilson H.S.), CSM junior Brecca Gaffney was assessed a technical foul after exchanging words with a referee.  Sands hit both free throws for the technical foul, giving the Roadrunners a 5-point possession as they chipped the CSM lead down to six at 41-35.

The Orediggers still held a seven-point lead with under six minutes left at 46-39, but Metro State outscored them 16-5 the rest of the way.  A layup by Brandi Valencia (Moriarty, N.M./Moriarty H.S.) cut the lead to five and another layup by Sands made it a three-point game with just under five minutes left.

Both teams went scoreless until Candice Kohn (Midland, Texas/Midland Christian H.S.) buried a jump shot with 2:11 left to cut the lead down to one at 46-45.  CSM's Angie Charchalis answered with a basket to stretch the lead back to three, though Valencia's basket with 1:37 left cut it back to one point.

Jasmine Cervantes (Johnstown, Colo./Berthoud H.S.) forced a steal on CSM's next possession, following an offensive rebound and a timeout, Cervantes hit a jumper with 1:00 left to play, giving Metro State its first lead of the game at 49-48.

Wood, Cervantes and Sands each went 2-for-2 at the line in the final minute to seal the thrilling victory.  The Roadrunners actually took  7-point lead after an 8-0 run following two free throws by Sands with five seconds left, but Charchalis' three at the buzzer made the final score a four-point margin.

Sands led the Roadrunners with 15 points off the bench as she hit 5-of-5 at the line and 5-of-11 from the floor.  She also pulled down six rebounds.  Cervantes finished with nine points, five rebounds, five assists and two steals.  Wood added eight points.  Kristin Valencia (Moriarty, N.M./Moriarty H.S.) pulled down nine rebounds to lead the team.

The Roadrunners committed just eight turnovers and have had under ten just three times all season, with all three of those games coming in the past four.  Defensively, they forced 22 turnovers and held CSM to just 39.0 percent shooting.  Metro State shot just 29.2 percent.  CSM also held a 46-39 rebounding edge.  It was just the third time all season Metro State has been outrebounded in a win and the minus-seven rebounding margin was the worst of all three wins.

Metro State will face top seed and fourth-ranked Fort Lewis at 3 p.m. on Friday in the semifinals of the RMAC Shootout.  The semifinals and finals will be played at the State Fair Events Center in Pueblo, Colo.  FLC edged Western State 56-54 on Tuesday.