GOLDEN, Colo. – The Colorado Mesa women's basketball team dropped their first back-to-back games of the year as they fell to the Colorado School of Mines Orediggers 70-51 on Saturday evening in Lockridge Arena. It was the final road game of the regular season for the Mavericks.
 
Colorado Mesa struggled in the first quarter for the second straight night. The Mavericks trailed 24-9 after the first after shooting just 16.7 percent from the field and they committed seven turnovers in the period.
 
After that the Mavericks couldn't recover. They outscored the Orediggers 12-11 in the third quarter but that was one of the lone bright spots on the night.
 
Turnovers once again plagued the Mavericks as the committed 24 turnovers on the night which led to 27 points on Mines' end of the floor.
 
Natalie Bartle paced the Mavericks for the second straight night with a team-high 16 points. Senior Kylyn Rigsby had 11 points, three rebounds and an assist in 26 minutes of action.
 
The Orediggers Denali Pinto led all scorers with 18 points. Teammate Ashley Steffeck was just shy of a triple-double as she finished with 12 points, eight rebounds, six steals and five assists.
 
The Mavericks will return home for the final two games of the regular season next weekend as they take on Western Slope rivals Western Colorado and Fort Lewis In Brownson Arena.