RAPID CITY, S.D. --- After a splitting games on the road this past weekend, the South Dakota School of Mines women's basketball team has climbed back inside the postseason bubble for the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference standings as the Hardrockers are currently eighth in the RMAC rankings. The Top 8 in the league advance to the RMAC Shootout postseason tournament.

The Lady Hardrockers improved their RMAC record to 8-7 with a 73-59 win over Western State Colorado University last Friday followed by a 75-60 loss to Colorado Mesa on Saturday. SD Mines' overall record now stands at 13-8.

Against Western, SD Mines built up a 32-25 halftime lead and surged in the second half, leading by 20 with just over three minutes remaining. Five players reached double-figures, led by freshman Ryan Weiss with 17 points. Weiss also recorded six rebounds, two assists and one steal.

The 'Rockers are tied as the RMAC's top offense (with Black Hills State), scoring 69.1 points per game.  The Hardrocker defense is giving up 60.9 points per game.

Next on the schedule for the Lady 'Rockers is a rematch against the University of Colorado Colorado Springs. Back on Dec. 2, SD Mines defeated UCCS, 65-38. The Mountain Lions are a much improved team since that time and are just one spot back of SD Mines in the RMAC standings in ninth place. UCCS is 7-13 on the season and 7-8 in the league.

After starting the season on a nine-game losing streak, the Mountain Lions have become quite a competitive unit, and even took out the RMAC top squad (CSU-Pueblo, 65-51). Most recently they opened up their week with an upset victory over MSU Denver, 49-46. The Mountain Lions held their opponent to just 29 percent field goal shooting and 18.8 percent shooting from beyond the arc. Abby Feickert scored a team-high nine points. Westminster then defeated UCCS 54-42 in their second game.

As a team, UCCS is scoring 52.6 points per game and is ranked 15^th in the conference, while the defense is ninth in the RMAC, allowing 61.4 points per game.

The Mountain Lions are paced by senior Shanah Leaf who is averaging 10.2 ppg – the only player that averages over 10 points per game. Freshman Tatum Tellin leads the team in rebounds, averaging 5.1 rpg.
Friday's game is slated for a 5:30 p.m. (MST) start in Colorado Springs. The game is available to watch on the RMAC Network at: https://portal.stretchinternet.com/uccs/ .

The Hardrockers have another rematch Saturday when SD Mines will square off with the MSU Denver Roadrunners in Denver, Colo. at the Auraria Event Center.

MSUD got the better of the Hardrockers back on Dec. 2, defeating SD Mines in Rapid City, 70-58. Last weekend after dropping their game to UCCS, the Roadrunners bounced back with a 70-63 win over Westminster College. The game was close at the half, 36-35. MSU Denver continued its momentum in the third quarter, outscoring the Griffins by two to gain the lead that they would carry to the end. Georgia Ohrdorf led with 21 points and six rebounds, followed by Mikala Gordon with 17 points and nine boards. MSU Denver heads into the weekend 10-5 in conference games and 14-7 overall.

MSU Denver is fifth in the conference as the weekend starts. They have the fifth-best offense in the RMAC, scoring 65.6 points per game while their defense ranks fifth allowing 59.9 points per game.

Ohdorf leads the Roadrunner charge (13.5 ppg), while J'Nae Squires-Horton (11.7 ppg) and Jaelynn Smith (10.3) also spark the offense.

Saturday's game will be a 5 p.m. (MST) tipoff and the contest will be available on the RMAC Network at: https://portal.stretchinternet.com/msudenver/ .