RAPID CITY, S.D. --- The South Dakota School Mines women's basketball team picked up its second consecutive win this past weekend during the Lady Hardrockers home opener where they blew the doors off of Montana State Billings, defeating the Yellowjackets by 41 points, 83-42.
 
"Billings is a very accomplished program. They are a very good rebounding team and a good defensive team," said Hardrocker women's basketball head coach Ryan Larsen. "We were fantastic on both ends. We played with such pace and they didn't know how to stop us, they didn't know how to guard us. I was extremely pleased with the way we played on Saturday. That game Saturday was probably one of the finer 40 minutes of basketball we have played in the time I've been here."
 
The win closed the door on the non-conference part of the schedule for the Hardrockers. Now SD Mines will travel to Colorado for a pair of games to open up Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference competition. Friday the Hardrockers tipoff against Metro State-Denver. Last season the two teams traded wins during conference play.
 
MSU-Denver was in Alaska over Thanksgiving weekend for the Mt. McKinley Bank North Star Invitational. The Roadrunners picked up one win over those three games (defeated University of Alaska-Fairbanks, 70-57) and are 4-3 on the season heading into the conference.
 
MSU-Denver has a solid defense and is ranked third in the conference right now, allowing only 55.7 points a game. The Lady 'Rockers have the fourth-best offense, posting 67.6 points per game so it should be a good clash on Friday.
 
"On the road things are going to be a little more difficult," said Coach Larsen, who was optimistic about his team's opening RMAC matchup. "If we can keep [Metro State] off the glass and continue to execute well on offense, you 'gotta' like your chances."
 
Saturday the Lady Rockers will travel further South to face University of Colorado Colorado Springs. UCCS (3-3) has lost three-straight games and have an overall record of 3-3. However standout player Brittany Hernandez did not appear in the Mountain Lions' last two losses.
 
The Hardrockers will rely on their perimeter play as UCCS has a lot of size in the paint and leads the conference in blocked shots (29), averaging almost five a game. SD Mines is onto of the RMAC for assists (84) averaging almost 17 a game. If that trend continues, the visitors should have plenty of open looks at the basket from good ball movement and distribution.
 
"UCCS is going to be a challenge. They have a new coaching staff and are doing some things differently." Larsen said. "We just need to be concerned about ourselves right now and what we are doing to improve."
 
Friday tipoff against Metro State-Denver is at 5 p.m. (MST). Saturday the Lady Rockers tipoff against UCCS at 5:30p.m. (MST). Both games can be watched online, visit the Hardrocker women's basketball schedule at www.gorockers.com to find the links.