RAPID CITY, S.D. --- The South Dakota School of Mines women's basketball team had a tough go of it Friday night as the Lady Hardrockers played host to The University of Colorado Colorado Springs Mountain Lions during a Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference bout at the King Center in Rapid City, S.D.

UCCS was red-hot from the perimeter in the first half, which was the main factor in the 66-51 win over the Hardrockers. The loss dropped SD Mines to 9-13 on the season and 7-10 in the conference while the Mountain Lions improved to 15-7 on the year and bumped up to 12-4 in the league.

The first quarter saw a competitive exchange with UCCS taking a slight four-point edge, 19-15. The visitors exploded in the second period with 27 points while SD Mines struggled to keep pace with 12 markers. The Mountain Lions went into halftime with a 19-point advantage, 46-27.

The Hardrockers shot much better in the second half and got to within 10 points midway through the third period. To start the four quarter, UCCS led, 54-41, but UCCS was able to hold off SD Mines in the final frame, outscoring the home squad, 12-10.

The Hardrockers finished the game shooting 31 percent from the field, making good on 17-55 attempts (3-22 from the arc), and were 14-21 from the free throw line. They tacked on 28 rebounds, 14 assists, nine steals and two blocks.

After shooting 52 percent in the first half, including cashing in on 10-16 from three-point range, the Mountain Lions ended the bout making good on 25-61 attempts for 41 percent. They added 38 rebounds, 15 assists, nine steals and five blocks.

Individually for SD Mines, senior Megan Rohrer paced her team with 16 points, five rebounds, two assists, two blocks and one steal. Freshman Anna Haugen contributed with 11 points, had nine rebounds, three steals and one assist. Sophomore Taylor Molstad and freshman Sami Steffeck both cashed in for six markers.

The Mountain Lions were led in scoring by Brittany Hernandez with 15 points and Kelly O'Flannigan added 10 points.

Next up SD Mines will close out its home schedule Saturday at 3:30 p.m. taking on MSU-Denver at Goodell Gymnasium.