RAPID CITY, S.D. – The South Dakota School of Mines women's basketball team has been anxious to play in front of its home crowd. That was fairly evident Saturday as the Lady Hardrockers defeated MSU Billings, 83-42, in the team's home opener at the King Center in Rapid City, S.D.
"It was a long time coming," said Hardrocker women's basketball head coach
Ryan Larsen. We've spent three-straight weeks on the road. I was pretty anxious to have our team play in front of our hometown fans—and so was the team --- as you could tell from the outcome."
SD Mines was really on point Saturday with an outstanding offensive effort. The Hardrockers were getting it done from the perimeter, which in turn allowed things to be productive in the paint as well.
"We knew they were going to play a lot of zone so we were able to get a lot of inside-out touches. The great thing is when shots go down early you feel really good about yourself, "Larsen said. "We started hitting some jumpers and that opened things up down low for Megan (Rohrer) and Marissa (Hirchert)."
The Hardrockers jumped out to a 26-14 advantage after the first quarter and went into halftime up, 45-29. The home team poured it on in the second half, leading by 23 after the third quarter, 62-39. The Lady 'Rockers went on a 21-3 run in the last 10 minutes to put the game well out of reach.
SD Mines shot 61 percent from the field making good on 33-54 shots, including 11 three-pointers. They were 6-8 from the free throw line, came down with 38 rebounds, had 27 assists, five steals and three blocks.
MSU Billings converted 16-64 shot attempts for 25 percent. They hit only 2-19 from the three-point line and had 21 rebounds, eight assists and seven steals.
The Hardrockers were paced by Rohrer, who finished with 19 points, six rebounds, two steals and one assists. Freshman
Anna Haugen added 12 markers off the bench to go along with her seven rebounds, five assists and one steal.
"There has been a few games this year where our bench has led us in scoring," Larsen said. "That has proved to be a big-time weapon for us. Hopefully we can continue that trend throughout the year."
Junior
Payton Humpal and freshman
Sami Steffeck contributed with nine points each and sophomore
Taylor Molstad and Hirchert both put up eight points.
Saturday's victory marks the end of the non-conference season for the Hardrockers. SD Mines posted a 2-3 overall record during the past three weeks.
"I was very pleased. There was a reason I scheduled hard opponents this year," Larsen said of his assessment of the non-conference season. "I knew this team had the potential to do some good things once the conference season rolls around and I think it will prepare us for the (Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference schedule."
Next up, SD Mines heads to Colorado to face MSU-Denver Friday night followed by a Saturday matchup against University of Colorado Colorado Springs.
