RAPID CITY, S.D. --- After a competitive pair of games to open the 2020 portion of the schedule, the South Dakota School of Mines women's basketball team will make a road trip to Denver, Colorado for Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference weekend competition.

The Hardrockers will face off against Regis University of Friday followed by a bout with Colorado Christian University on Saturday evening.

SD Mines came up short this past weekend, but put a huge scare into a pair of the RMAC's best teams (as well as the South Central Region) in Colorado Mesa and Western Colorado University. The 'Rockers had a great game-plan Friday night against the Mavericks, but a third-quarter scoring drought gave the visitors the edge they needed as the Mavericks defeated the Hardrocker women, 60-51. It was all tied after the first quarter, 14-14, and CMU held just a two-point advantage at the half, 37-35. SD Mines notched just six points in the third period while the Mavs cashed in for 15 points. That proved the deciding factor as both squads posted nine markers in the final frame.

On Saturday against the Mountaineers, the game turned into a shootout. The 'Rockers hit eight three-point baskets in the first quarter as Western had to keep pace. The Hardrockers played very well to open the game and held a four-point edge after the first quarter, 26-22, and after more of the same in the second quarter, the two squads were all square at the half, 35-35. The visitors took a slight advantage after the third period, 54-51, and then was able to distance themselves slightly over the last 10 minutes to earn a tough 80-74 tilt.

SD Mines is currently ranked 12^th in the conference with a 4-7 overall record and 2-4 mark in the RMAC. Regis is two spots above them, also 2-4 in the league, but has a 5-7 record on the season. CCU is in the upper tier of the RMAC, heading into the weekend ranked fifth with a 5-8 overall record and 5-2 mark in the conference.

The Hardrockers have the fourth-best offense in the RMAC averaging 65.5 points per game, while the defense is ranked sixth allowing 60.9 ppg. Individually Ryan Weiss is eighth in the RMAC, contributing with 15.5 ppg and Anna Haugen is currently 23^rd in the league dishing in 10.8 ppg.

Haugen continues to lead the RMAC in rebounding averaging 10.4 rpg The 5-foot-11-inch senior tallied 16 total rebounds over the weekend, collecting eight Friday vs. Mesa and matched eight on Saturday against Western. She also recorded a block and four steals. Haugen is second in the RMAC with 79 defensive rebounds averaging 7.2 per game. 

Looking at Regis, the Rangers (5-7, 2-4 RMAC) gained their first two conference wins in back to back fashion as they took down New Mexico Highlands and CSU Pueblo. In their matchup against the Cowgirls, the Rangers were controlling the boards as they outrebounded New Mexico Highlands by a margin of 48-26. While grabbing 17 offensive rebounds, Regis were able to turn those into 19 second chance points. The Rangers shot 50.9% from the field as a squad against the Thunderwolves. Also, Regis's bench outscored CSU Pueblo's bench by a tally of 20-9.

Junior forward Whitney Jacob of Regis was named the RMAC Defensive Player of the Week after back-to-back, double-double performances. Jacob scored 15 points to go along with 10 rebounds (six defensive), a team-high and share of the game-high two blocks, and a share of the team-high two steals in the Rangers' 71-59 victory over New Mexico Highlands on the road on Friday.
 
She followed that up with a team-high 19 points, a game-high 12 rebounds (10 defensive), two assists, one block, and one steal in Regis' 74-65 road win at CSU-Pueblo on Saturday.
Regis is ranked just behind the 'Rockers in offensive output, ranked fifth in the conference with 65.2 ppg while the defense registers at ninth, allowing 65.4 ppg.

Whitney, who averages 14.9 ppg heads into the weekend ninth in the RMAC standings and is the only player that is scoring in double figures. Emma Sterkel, Grace O'Neill and Jaz'Myne Snipes are all scoring around eight points per game and Tashika Burrell and Kali Murrell dish in just over seven each game.

Friday's game is slated for a 5 p.m. (MDT) start and the game will be streamed live at: https://portal.stretchinternet.com/regis/ and livestats will be available at: https://regisrangers.com/sidearmstats/wbball/summary .

Colorado Christian (5-8, 5-2 RMAC) secured two more wins last weekend to push their win streak to four games as they defeated CSU Pueblo (2-9, 2-4 RMAC) and New Mexico Highlands (1-11, 0-7 RMAC). The Cougars' bench played a pivotal role as they outscored the Thunderwolves' bench by a margin of 30-7. Also, Colorado Christian was able to score 22 points off turnovers. In their following game, the Cougars were able to bring their offense to life with their defensive efforts as they scored 24 points off turnovers and shot 45.3% as a team.

The Cougars offense heads into the weekend 11^th in the standings scoring 59.2 ppg while CCU's defense is 10^th allowing 65.7 pgg. Sam Nunez leads the Cougars' offensive attack, scoring 13.3 ppg and ranks 11^th in the RMAC. Lourdes Gonzales contributes with 9.9 ppg and Brookelyn Huribut cashing in for 8.8 each night.

Saturday's matchup will tipoff at 5 p.m. (MST) and the game will be streamed live at: https://portal.stretchinternet.com/ccucougars/portal.htm?eventId=563923&streamType=video and livestats will be available at: https://ccucougars.com/sidearmstats/wbball/summary .