Women finish strong By Matt Gunn gunnma@mscd.edu

Photo by William Moore - moorwill@mscd.edu

Metro guard Stacey Cox makes a pass around Colorado School of Mines player Angela Pearson Saturday during a 79-73 Roadrunner overtime victory. The ‘Runners won their final two road games of the regular season. Metro earned the fifth seed in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Shootout.

   The Roadrunner women’s basketball team finished the regular season with a defensive victory against Colorado Christian University, followed by a come-from-behind overtime win over Colorado School of Mines.
   The ‘Runners completed their second straight regular season sweep over the Cougars Feb. 24 with a 73-53 blowout. Metro saw much more adversity the following night against the Orediggers. The Roadrunners had to make up ground to beat Mines 79-73 in the extra period.
   Metro finished the season tied for fourth place in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference East Division.
   “ We all just know what our goals are and are really excited to see where we can end up,” freshman Stacey Cox said after the ‘Runners beat Mines. “We’re all just trying to stay together and get where we want to be.”
   Alhough the Roadrunners’ cohesive play led to a strong regular-season record (18-8, 15-4 RMAC), Metro didn’t earn home court advantage because of a three-way tie for fourth place. The ‘Runners play March 1 against the University of Nebraska-Kearney in the first round of the RMAC Shootout.
   Head coach Dave Murphy sat out Metro’s game against the Cougars, leaving assistant coach Todd Dickson, who led the ‘Runners to the win over Colorado Christian.
   Murphy served a one-game suspension imposed by the RMAC for comments he made against conference referees.
   The ‘Runners’ problems with fouls continued with both sophomore Danielle Ellerington and freshman Megan Sinclair forced to play with four in the second half. Meanwhile, sophomore Shaquania Lundy and Cougar guard Jeanee Burton fouled out.
   “ (Colorado Christian) play extremely hard and they’re coached well,” Dickson said. “I just thought our kids, when they had a little adversity with foul trouble, did a great job of responding and they played extremely hard.”
   For the third straight game, junior Rianna Harris led the ‘Runners offense. Harris finished the game with 19 points and eight rebounds. Sophomore Paige Powers went four-for-eight from the perimeter and finished the game with 18 points.
   The 20-point margin of victory was built primarily in the second half. Colorado Christian stayed with the Roadrunners deep into    the contest, but was unable to take control at any point of the game.
   “ I think, to continue from last week, we played really good defense,” Sinclair said. “We held their team to our goal in points.”
   The following night, Metro visited Mines. The Roadrunners beat the Orediggers by 52 points Jan. 20. This time proved a more substantial test with playoff seeding on the line.
   “ It was tough, but we knew they would leave it all out on the court,” Cox said, “so we prepared ourselves as best we can and we’re just glad we came out with the win.”
   The most important field goal Cox scored in the game came with six seconds remaining in regulation. She tied the game after taking the Metro inbound and driving the lane with a head fake that seemed to have fooled most in the Volk Gymnasium.
   It capped a 25-15 Metro run that brought the Roadrunners back from a 10-point deficit. Cox followed it up with an identical play with 1:49 remaining in overtime. She hit the shot and a free throw to give the ‘Runners a four-point lead.
   “ Well, if it works, use it; so I just kind of kept going,” Cox said.
   Metro finished the overtime period by committing fewer fouls than Mines, limiting free throw opportunities. In another game with heavy scrutiny from the referees, Ellerington fouled out late in the game. Orediggers’ guard Sara Eickelman and Ashley Gronewoller both fouled out in overtime.
   Five Roadrunners scored in double figures, led by Powers’ 21-point effort. Ellerington scored 13. Cox scored 15 and was the only non-starter to score points for the ‘Runners.
   Oredigger guard Iva Tomova scored 25 points and pulled in nine rebounds to lead her team. Mines’ lone senior, six-foot-three center Gronewoller scored 15 of her 20 points in the second half, and used her four-inch height advantage to grab 13 rebounds.
   “ We knew that they were going to bring everything at us, so we weathered the storm,” Murphy said after the game. “They gave us their best shot, and it’s a tribute to our kids that they played together once again as a team, they believed in each other and they got the job done.”