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Home > Sports

Metro stands tall in victory

By Eric Lansing
lansing@mscd.edu

Metro women’s basketball team ended the regular season on a high note holding the Colorado School of Mines to 16 second-half points Feb. 22 in a 66-46 win at the Auraria Events Center.

The first half saw the conference rivals battle back and forth between scoring runs. The game was tied at 12 at the 14:30 mark before the Roadrunners went on a 16-5 run that was spurred by a 3-pointer from Metro guard Stephanie Sauter. The Orediggers came flying back on a run of their own that saw Mines forward Kelsey Crist score six points that cut Metro’s 11-point lead to four before halftime.

With Metro leading 34-30 at the midway point, head coach Linda Lappe reminded her squad of their previous matchup with the School of Mines.

“We held Mines to 42 points the first time we played them, and they already had 30 at halftime,” Lappe said. “So we just challenged them to step it up defensively.”

The coach’s words didn’t go unheard as the ’Runners pushed through screens, challenged shots and forced countless turnovers in holding the Orediggers to only four field goals in 19 shot attempts. It was a defensive stand that would have made any coach proud.

“They stepped it up,” Lappe said. “Credit goes to them as they played hard, and it was an all-out team effort in the second half.”

The Roadrunners and their coaching staff have been preaching defense all season, and it has been daunting, holding opponents to 59.1 points per game which ranks third in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference.

On the offensive end, the night belonged to Metro guards Paige Powers and Ashley Mickens. Powers scored a season-high 19 points and pulled down six rebounds while Mickens added her fourth double-double in four games contributing 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Powers has had a rough season for her standards as the one time all- RMAC first teamer has averaged less than 10 points per game and has shot only 30 percent from beyond the arc. But the senior guard was just happy to get that final win that secured a home game in the RMAC Tournament.

“It’s just great because we got the win first of all,” Powers said. “I haven’t shot the greatest this season so it makes me happy (to shoot well from the floor).”

Lappe has witnessed first-hand the struggles Powers has dealt with all season and was thrilled to finally see the results that her starting point guard can create.

“She’s been asked to do a lot this season,” Lappe said. “I was glad that she was able to finally knock down some shots that we see every day in practice and think that will help her confidence going into the tournament.”

Powers was also one of five seniors that were honored on Senior Night as Friday was their last regular season home game. Metro forwards Anne-Marie Torp and Carolyn Dennee, along with guards Sauter and Mickens also celebrated the night and the victory, but their thoughts were already focused on the next game, which comes against Adams State on Feb. 29 at home.

“It’s been quite a ride, I’ll tell you that,” said Powers, who spent all four years as a Roadrunner. “It’s been great though. I loved it here, and I can’t believe it actually has come.”

Metro finished the regular season on a three-game winning streak after dropping three of four games at the start of February. The team is playing terrific basketball at just the right time.

“Momentum is everything,” Lappe said. “I think knowing how your team is feeling and how your team is playing is a huge thing, and I think we’re playing pretty well right now.”

Lappe and her team seem to be a lock for the NCAA Tournament, but a deep conference tournament run will help her team secure a higher seed for the national tournament. Their first opponent in the RMAC postseason will be the Grizzlies of Adams State who fought through the ’Runners stingy defense and scored 82 points earlier this season.