DENVER – Losing, in all its forms, isn't fun.
 
But after dropping a one-point decision to a winless team in its previous game, the MSU Denver women's basketball team has a lot of draw upon after losing 65-64 Wednesday to Colorado School of Mines, the first-place team ranked Nos. 19 and 10 in the national polls.
 
"Even though there are no moral victories, I will say I'm extremely proud," MSU Denver coach Tanya Haave said. "What I hope this shows our team is that we can play with anybody in our conference. I don't know if they believed that before tonight."
 
After leading by nine points in the first half, by 11 late in the third quarter, and by three with 59 seconds to play, the Roadrunners were unable to hold off Colorado School of Mines' late charge.
 
"We're at the point where there's nothing to lose, and we can play with these girls," Sealy said. "We've just had some off games lately. I think this was a boost that will push us more going forward."
 
Mikylah Espinosa's three-point play with 1:31 left gave the Roadrunners a 62-61 lead, and after getting a defensive stop, Brooklynn Jones made two free throws with 59.4 to go for a 64-61 advantage.
 
But Mines' Ashley Steffeck made two free throws after getting a foul call while off balance, and then Espinosa was unable to convert while getting bumped on her shot.
 
Mines played for the final shot and cleared the right side of the floor for Steffeck, who drove against Tosjanae Bonds. Espinosa read the play, cut off the lane to the hoop and seemed to have her feet set when Steffeck drove into her, but blocking was called.
 
Steffeck, who drew 13 fouls – yes, 13! – made both free throws to clinch it with 3.8 seconds to go. For clarification, Steffeck shot 13 free throws (making 11), but also was the recipient of 13 of the 27 fouls called on MSU Denver.
 
"We just didn't score enough in the fourth quarter," said Haave, whose team was outscored 22-13 in the final frame. "We're a young team and we were getting tired – but you've got probably the Player of the Year in our conference in Steffeck making two big 3s (earlier in the fourth quarter). You've got to get out on her, but great players make great plays."
 
Espinosa led MSU Denver with 16 points, while Sealy, Jones, Bonds, Jackie Pippett and Ashlyn Yow all scored eight. Sealy pulled down 11 rebounds, and she and Pippett each blocked two shots.
 
"We were making shots and executing," forward Brianna Sealy said. "And we got momentum. We've been struggling offensively and getting runs has been tough, but tonight we responded."
 
Though MSU Denver dropped to 2-8 overall and 1-4 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, the good part is that there are 17 league games to go and the Roadrunners still have room to grow.
 
"I'm proud of the effort," Haave said. "But we're still looking at the 17 offensive rebounds we gave up, and 21 turnovers, all the missed layups we had – and we were still in the ball game, should have won the game. Those are things that we have to fix, but I'm pleased with the effort."