GUNNISON, Colo. --- The South Dakota School of Mines women's basketball team accomplished its first obstacle in hopes of making the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Shootout on Saturday night by defeating the Western State Colorado University Mountaineers, 60-52, in Gunnison, Colo.

By winning, the Hardrockers moved into a three-way tie for seventh place in the RMAC standings with Colorado Christian and Black Hills State. The Top 8 team will advance to the post-season tournament, which is slated to start on Feb. 28.

SD Mines broke the game open in the second half of play, outscoring Western, 23-11, in the third quarter after trailing by one point at the half, 24-23. The Mountaineers took a slim edge halfway through the third period, but the Hardrockers put the clamps down and led by as many by 12 points with just over two minutes to play in the game.

"It was an extremely tough win by the ladies tonight," said Hardrocker women's basketball head coach Ryan Larsen. "We had a tremendous third quarter offensively and defensively. We stayed aggressive in the fourth quarter and countered WSCU runs."

The Hardrockers finished the game shooting 46.8 percent from the field, hitting 22-47 attempts (5-15 from the three-point line) and were 11-16 from the free throw line. SD Mines came down with 33 rebounds, had 14 assists, 11 steals and seven blocks.

The Mountaineers made good on 18-49 for 36.7 percent from the field (7-17 from the three-point line) and were 9-15 from the foul line. Western State rounded up 28 rebounds, had seven assists and six steals.

Individually for the Hardrockers, senior Megan Rohrer had an outstanding game with 12 points, four rebounds, four assists, four blocks and a steal. Freshman Molly McCabe led SD Mines with 14 points, six rebound and one assist. Freshman Anna Haugen had 10 points and freshman Sami Steffeck contributed with nine markers.

"Our post play was great," Larsen said. "Molly, Anna and Megan carried us and credit our guards for feeding them the ball. As a team we out-rebounded them and turned them over more. This is a tough place to play and our ladies had a big time effort. I am proud of this team. "

The win improves SD Mines to 11-14 overall and 9-11 in the conference. The Hardrockers will close out the season and this weekend with two big RMAC matchups. The first will be Friday in Denver, Colo., against Regis University and then will travel to Nebraska to face Chadron State College on Saturday.