RAPID CITY, S.D. --- The South Dakota School of Mines women's basketball team opened up its Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference schedule last weekend in Colorado. The Lady Hardrockers (2-5) were unable to pick up a win in either matchup against MSU-Denver and University of Colorado Colorado Springs.
The Hardrockers fell to the Roadrunners, 66-47, on Friday and came up short to the UCCS Mountain Lions, 81-72, Saturday evening.
"The energy level we had last Saturday was great," said SD Mines women's basketball head coach
Ryan Larsen. "We are looking forward to this week and we are getting better every day."
The weekend ahead will mark the home start of the Lady 'Rockers' RMAC schedule. Friday the team will play host to the Colorado Christian Cougars. CCU is also 2-5 on the season after losing their two first RMAC games.
The Cougars are ranked last in the conference, allowing 73.3 points per game, and second to last in defensive field goals allowing opponents to shoot 44 percent from the field.
CCU is paced by junior Alex Nelson, who is fourth in scoring in the RMAC averaging 13.7 points each time out. Senior guard Leisha Crawford is also a tough defender and is currently fourth in the RMAC averaging two steals a game.
Saturday will feature "The Battle of the Mines" as Colorado School of Mines travels to Rapid City for an afternoon tipoff. CSM sophomore Emily Bailey is the reigning RMAC Women's Basketball Offensive Player of the Week, and could present a problem for the Lady 'Rockers.
Last weekend she averaged 20.5 points, six rebounds, 4.5 assists and two blocks a game. Against Chadron State last weekend, Bailey scored 20 of her 22 points in the first half and followed that with a near triple-double of 19 points, eight rebounds, six assists and three blocks in a win over Regis University.
"Colorado Mines is a team that played in the NCAA Div. II National Tournament last year," Larsen added.
After winning four straight-games the Orediggers have a 6-5 record, 2-0 in conference play. They are averaging just under 70 points a game (fourth in the RMAC) while their defense gives up 66 a game.
The Orediggers like the shoot the three-ball, making good on 73-211 attempted so far this season and they are very good at second-chance opportunities, leading the league in offensive rebounds, averaging 46 a game.
CSC shooting guard Cassidy Budge will be the main threat as a three-point shooter. The sophomore is currently second in the RMAC with 28 made three-pointers, and is fifth in long range shooting percentage with .406.
"We are looking forward to the challenge," Larsen said. "I do like this team a lot. They own up to their mistakes and they want to be good."
The Hardrockers are off and running on the season and have begun to pick up steam despite dropping both games last weekend. Senior
Megan Rohrer and junior
Payton Humpal are tied as the scoring leaders as both are averaging 9.1 points per game.
The Hardrockers actually have six players averaging seven points or more per game. Sophomore
Marissa Hirchert is contributing with 8.1 points a game, freshman
Sami Steffeck is adding 8.0, freshman
Anna Haugen is putting up 7.9, and freshman
Cooper Courtney is posting 7.0.
Rohrer also leads the team in blocks (12) and rebounds (44). The former RMAC Defensive Player of the Week is second in the league in blocked shots behind her younger sister (Molly Rohrer) from CSU-Pueblo.
Hardrocker basketball is getting ready for the Holiday Season and will host a Toys for Tots event
this weekend. At the Hardrocker basketball games this weekend a toy donation will get free entry to the games.
Friday's game is slated for a 5:30 p.m. start and Saturday's game tips off at 3:30 p.m. Both contests as well as live stats can be viewed on the RMAC Network at:
https://portal.stretchinternet.com/sdsmt/ .
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