BILLINGS, MONTANA – #20 UT Tyler women's basketball will start the year 1-0 after a 55-50 win over Colorado School of Mines to begin the DII CCA Tip-Off Classic at the Trailhead.
 
The Patriots forced 14 turnovers and converted those to 20 points while holding the Orediggers to just 32.1% from the field and 29.4% from three in their season opener.
 
A sluggish start for both teams saw the Patriots take a 7-2 lead by the first media timeout in the first. Polina Latysheva and Hayley Cumming connected on the games first three pointers, helping spur them to a lead they would never relinquish. They closed the quarter on a 6-2 run as Latysheva, Lilli Hakkarainen, and Edit Merivirta each dropped in layups.
 
Mines would close the gap to six in the early stages of the second frame, but Cumming was there again with two straight three pointers to put the Patriots up double digits. That lead would climb to 15 with 4:03 left in the half as Mileina Sablinskaite battled through contact for a tough and-one. Cumming would drop in one final three pointer in the final minutes of the half as the Patriots carried an 11 point lead into the second half.
 
The Orediggers came out swinging to cut the lead down to seven, but Sablinskaite would bury another triple and Leila Davis added a free throw. Mines would battle back again, but Mariah Neal would take her turn from deep to again stem the tide. In the final three minutes however, the Orediggers caught fire, going on a 7-0 run to cut the lead all the way down to three.
 
Neal and Hakkarainen would go on a 7-2 run by themselves to kick off the final frame, and a tough layup from Latysheva continued the run as the Patriots led by seven with 4:13 remaining.
 
The defense would show off late, forcing Mines to miss six of their last eight shots and commit three turnovers in the same timeframe. That defense saw the Orediggers shoot just 30.77% in the fourth quarter, their second worst of the night.
 
Hayley Cumming was named Player of the Game for her efforts, scoring 12 points with four threes to lead the team while snagging five rebounds and dishing out three assists.
 
Latysheva and Neal would join her in double figures, scoring 11 and 10 points. Sablinskaite scored six points and grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds.

UT Tyler held a 20-11 advantage in points off turnovers and a 20-12 advantage in bench points.
 
The #20 Patriots are back to work tomorrow night as they take on Mary at 8 p.m. CT back inside Alterowitz Gymnasium in Billings, Montana.