GOLDEN, Colo. – MSU Denver was outscored by eight points at the free throw line Friday night, and that proved to be the difference in a 73-65 setback to Colorado School of Mines in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference women's basketball.
 
Though MSU Denver committed several late fouls in an attempt to extend the game, they were still whistled for 27 fouls, a season high.
 
"Too much reaching, and we didn't adjust to the officiating," Metropolitan State University of Denver coach Tanya Haave. "We competed hard, but we've just got to be a little bit smarter in adjusting."
 
The Roadrunners (7-11 overall, 6-6 RMAC) had a solid shooting night at 46.8 percent, starting strong with a 20-point first quarter on 66.7 percent (8 of 12) shooting. Their efficiency waned in the second quarter, but they still held a 30-27 lead before Mines (11-6, 8-4) hit a game-tying 3-pointer at the halftime buzzer.
 
MSU Denver was still within 51-48 on a Leya Harvey basket to open the fourth quarter, but Mines used a 16-6 run to pull out to a 67-54 lead with 4:11 left, and the Roadrunners could get no closer than six points the rest of the way.
 
Bree Wellington led MSU Denver with a season-high 19 points that included a 9 of 10 performance from the free throw line. Jaela Richardson added 11 points and five rebounds, while Mariah Schroeder scored 10.
 
"We played hard and we shot the ball very well," Haave said. "We didn't shoot the 3 well (2 of 9) and we didn't defend it very well (Mines was 8 of 17) and we had too many turnovers (18, to Mines' 11). And we just put them at the line too much (Mines was 27 of 38). That's way too much."
 
No team had shot more than 27 free throws against MSU Denver this year, and Mines' total matched the most against the Roadrunners by any team since Fort Lewis shot 42 on Jan. 6, 2017.
 
"We had a really good first quarter, but it started to slip away from us a bit in the second quarter," Haave said. "We gave up that 3 at the end of the half that we shouldn't have, and that affected the momentum. But Mines is good, give them credit."
 
MSU Denver is back in action Saturday at 5:30 p.m. at UCCS (4-14, 3-9).