DENVER – Put up a fatigued team lacking depth against a high-quality fresh team and sometimes the results are predictable.
 
"First night of back-to-back games, and we're not a very deep team to begin with, and we're playing against a really good team," Metropolitan State University of Denver coach Tanya Haave said. "We only scored 16 points in the second half. So, yeah, running out of gas is a pretty apt description."
 
And, not to mention, Colorado School of Mines reloaded after halftime, with returning Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference player of the year Denali Pinto returning to the floor after sitting out the first half.
 
"She was player of the year in our conference for the reason," Haave said.
 
The Orediggers overcame a 33-28 halftime deficit while outscoring MSU Denver 47-16 for a 75-49 victory Saturday at the Auraria Event Center.
 
Mines forced the Roadrunners into 21 of their 33 turnovers after the break.
 
"We did some good things in the first half," Haave said. "But they played more physically in the second half and we struggled with that and it caught up to us. I mean, 33 turnovers, you're not going to beat too many teams."
 
MSU Denver, with an eight-player rotation and nine players in uniform Saturday after a season-opening win Friday night, couldn't sustain its solid first half against a Mines team playing its season opener.
 
"They're very long, and it was good for us to see that type of team early," Haave said. "We're going to see teams like that as we go along. You never like to lose by 26, but it was a good learning experience."
 
Meanwhile, Jaela Richardson continued to establish her reputation as one of the top shot blockers in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference by swatting eight shots to tie the school-record effort of Holly Roberts set 27 years ago, on Jan. 30, 1993.
 
Richardson also had her second straight double-double of the weekend, with 14 points and 10 rebounds, and she also made all 10 of her free throw attempts.
 
"Jaela was amazing," Haave said. "She was fighting in there. She made some mistakes, but she was amazing."
 
Alex Carlton added 13 points and had four steals, and Maggie Justinak scored 10.
 
"It was a learning experience for a new, young team," Haave said.