DENVER – It's always a battle when Colorado School of Mines is the opponent. Tonight, the Metropolitan State University of Denver women's basketball team was the victor.

The Roadrunners (8-10, 7-5 and T-5^th Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) grinded out a 62-55 win over the Orediggers (10-7, 7-5 and T-5^th RMAC) to move into a tie with them and two other squads for fifth place in the league standings. With the victory on We Back Pat for Alzheimer's Night at the Auraria Event Center, MSU Denver snapped Mines' five-game winning streak.

"We Back Pat" is an Alzheimer's awareness campaign named after legendary Tennessee women's basketball coach Pat Summitt, who coached MSU Denver head coach Tanya Haave to All-America honors as a Lady Vol in the 1980s. A portion of the ticket revenue from Friday's game will be donated to the Pat Summitt Foundation, and that total will be matched by the MSU Denver women's basketball program.

"Games with Mines are typically physical games," MSU Denver head coach Tanya Haave said Friday. "We did grind it out. It was a grinder. How we won it was defending and rebounding, so it was just huge. We've always been good defensively and we've got to continue that and finish up with the rebounding."

The Roadrunners controlled the battle within the battle – that of rebounding – on Friday. MSU Denver grabbed 46 rebounds to Mines' 37, led by senior guard Jaelynn Smith's (Denver, Colo./East) 12 boards. Smith, who came into the game ranked 13^th in the RMAC in rebounding at 6.7 per game and ninth in league play at 6.8 per contest, had her third game of double-digit rebounds and fourth double-double of the season.

MSU Denver started fairly slow, going 1 of 6 from deep in the first quarter to fall into a 17-13 deficit at the end of the opening period.

The second quarter was a different story. The Roadrunners shot 6 of 11 from the field and went on a 7-0 run in about a minute's time late in the quarter to take a 29-26 lead. That run was capitalized by a 3-pointer from (who else?) senior guard Jonalyn Wittwer (Fall Creek, Wis./Fall Creek), giving the Roadrunners their first lead since Wittwer's 10^th consecutive made 3-pointer – dating back to last Saturday's game against New Mexico Highlands – was the first bucket of the game.

Another Wittwer 3-pointer at 1:19 of the second quarter expanded the MSU Denver lead to six at 34-28, but the Orediggers added a basket before half to make it 34-30. Junior forward Bree Wellington (Fresno, Calif./Buchanan) was nothing short of dominant in the low post during the first half, scoring 10 points and showcasing impressive footwork and strength down low.

A strong defensive third quarter from MSU Denver limited Mines to 4 of 15 shooting in the period, but the Orediggers made nine free throws in the period as the two squads stayed locked in a battle of wills. The Roadrunners shot well enough in the quarter (8 of 19, 42.1%) to maintain the four-point lead, 52-48, after three.

The MSU Denver defensive locked down like a claw on its prey in the final 10 minutes of the game, holding Mines to 3 of 18 shooting in the period as Smith, Wittwer and company took care of things on the offensive end. Another of Wittwer's five makes from distance gave the Roadrunners a 55-48 lead with 9:29 to go, while Smith hit the dagger from deep on an assist from Wittwer with 1:07 to go to make it 62-55.

Smith added five free throws in the final 48 seconds and scored the final eight points of the game for MSU Denver to seal the 67-58 victory. She scored 17 in total, adding six assists to flirt with a triple-double once again.

Wittwer led the team in scoring for the second straight game, netting 19 points on 5 of 9 shooting from three-point land. The senior sharpshooter is 16 of 23 from distance over the last two games, a sparkling 69.6%, while averaging 26 points per game.

"I felt really comfortable," Wittwer said. Obviously the last game put a lot of confidence in me. I thought about a bit, the pressure, but there is no pressure. No one's going to make 11 threes in two straight games, or maybe ever again. So I just went with it, took my open shots like normal and had a good night. I was struggling there for a bit in the middle of the season, but I'm definitely getting it back and it's kind of at the right time. I think I'm starting to step up a bit for the team, and I just want to keep doing that every night."

Meanwhile, Wellington finished with 14 points, six rebounds and two blocks in a season-high 37 minutes. Sophomore guard Mariah Schroeder (Caledonia, Minn./Caledonia) scored a career-high six points, while freshman forward Morgan Lewis (Pagosa Springs, Colo./Pagosa Springs) had seven rebounds in eight minutes. In 17.5 minutes per game over her last four games, Lewis has pulled down an average of seven rebounds per contest.

MSU Denver looks to keep the mojo going tomorrow night against UCCS, who enters the game 8-10 overall and 7-5 in the RMAC, identical to the Roadrunners, after squeaking out a 66-64 win over Chadron State on Friday. Tip-off is set for 5 p.m. at the Auraria Event Center.