Nothing but net

The season may have looked different without fans in the stands and other health precautions in place due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, but the Oredigger basketball teams still made an extraordinary showing on the court in the regular season. Here are the highlights:

Men’s basketball

• The Mines men’s basketball team pulled off a 13-0 winning streak before suffering a loss to Colorado Mesa, who was
  No. 7 in the nation at the time.
• The team held the top spot on the National Association of Basketball Coaches Top 25 poll for six consecutive weeks.
• The Orediggers ended the regular season at 16-2 and were selected for the 2021 NCAA Division II Men’s Basketball Tournament, earning the No. 2 seed in the West Region and a first-round bye.
• This season’s NCAA Tournament selection is Mines’ eighth consecutive NCAA selection, and the Orediggers have been to the tournament 11 times overall since 2010.

Women’s basketball

• The Mines women’s basketball team claimed the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference championship, marking the team’s first RMAC crown in six years and second conference championship in program history.
• Ending their regular season 15-3 overall, the Orediggers claimed their highest national ranking in program history, rising to No. 14 in the media poll sponsored by D2SIDA and No. 24 on the coaches’ poll.
• For the first time in five years, the team earned a spot in the NCAA Tournament as the No. 1 seed in the West Region but unfortunately had to pull out of the tournament due to COVID-19 protocols.
• This is the third time the Oredigger women’s basketball team has advanced to the national tournament in the history of the program.
• Brittany Simpson became the winningest coach in the history of Mines women’s basketball at the start of her ninth season on Dec. 4, 2020, in a 68-53 win over South Dakota Mines.