RAPID CITY, S.D. --- The South Dakota School of Mines women's basketball team won its final two games of 2016 last weekend, bringing the Lady Hardrockers' overall record to 5-8 and are now 3-5 in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play. SD Mines will begin its 2017 campaign with a pair of games at home Friday and Saturday.
 
"When you get a big road sweep and see the looks on your kids' faces in the locker room after the games --- that makes this profession really fun," said Hardrocker women's basketball head coach Ryan Larsen, who is eager to get back on the court this weekend.
 
The Lady 'Rockers made the most of their short holiday break.
 
"We had been stuck offensively. The break over the holidays was good for the team and good for the coaches as well," Larsen said.
 
This Friday the SD Mines will play host to the Colorado State-Pueblo ThunderWolves. CSU-Pueblo is having a season for the record books. The ThunderWolves are 13-0 on the season and ranked ninth nationally in the latest WBCA coaches' poll.
 
"CSU-Pueblo presents a really good challenge for us. I'm looking forward to it," Larsen said. "Our team is really looking forward to this matchup. I can tell by the way they practiced yesterday and the way we really competed today. It was a fun session to be a part of."
 
The Thunderwolves have led the RMAC in scoring with over 74 points per game while posting an average margin of victory of 14.8 points, also best in the RMAC.
 
The ThunderWolves' Tuileisu Anderson currently sits second in the conference in scoring, averaging 17.8 points per game, while teammate Katie Cunningham leads the RMAC in rebounding with 9.4 per game and is second in assists averaging 4.6 per game. Molly Rohrer has 31 blocks on the season to lead the conference, averaging 2.4 per game.
 
Then on Saturday New Mexico Highlands will come to the King Center for a rematch. The Cowgirls lost to the Lady 'Rockers by 25 points (81-56) last Friday. The Cowgirls are 2-9 on the season after losing six straight games.
 
"We have to focus on what we are doing well and concentrate on getting better and better from one day to the next," Larsen said.
 
The Cowgirls currently have the worst defensive record in the RMAC, allowing 71.7 points per game. They also have struggled to stay in games this season with an average scoring margin of -16.8 points, also bottom of the conference.
 
With their two latest victories, the Hardrockers are currently ranked 10^th in the conference standings. SD Mines is starting to find its stride as the Hardrocker offense is averaging 65.4 points per game while the defense is allowing an average of 64.2 per game.
 
SD Mines freshman Anna Haugen is the reigning RMAC Offensive Player of the Week. In Friday's game vs. NMHU, Haugen was 5-for-9 from the field and 3-for-3 from the free throw line, and came down with five offensive rebounds. She finished with 13 points and one assists. Against Colorado Mines, Haugen paced the Hardrockers with a season high 20-point performance. She was 5-for-6 from the field and 10-for-14 from the free throw line while adding four assists.
 
This weekend, Friday's game is slated for 5:30 p.m. and Saturday's game tips off at 3:30 p.m. Watch both RMAC matchups at the RMAC Network on Stretch Internet by logging onto: https://portal.stretchinternet.com/sdsmt/ .