RAPID CITY, S.D. --- With the addition of six freshmen and the loss of arguably one of the top players in Hardrocker history, the South Dakota Mines women's basketball team looks to build a new identity this season.
The Hardrockers return eight players from last season but lost four seniors, including guard Ryan Weiss, a two-time All-Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference first-team performer and the program's all-time leader in 3-point field goals.
"Every year your team has a different identity," Mines head coach Jeri Jacobson Owsley said. "Even if you had every single player back, it's a new year and a new team, so we've been kind of developing ours over the past few months."
"Ryan was a special player, so not having her around is a little different for some of the returners, but we have so many new players on the roster that they don't know any different," she added. "We have probably four or five of our freshmen that have played in a state championship game. Multiple of them played in the state championship game last year in their senior season and some of them were state champions at the end. They know how to win, so they compete and they play hard. That's kind of the identity we've taken for this team this year."
Mines opens the season Friday night at home against Texas Permian and Saturday against West Texas A&M, with both games beginning at 7 p.m.
Jacobson Owsley said that the returners – senior Bailey Johnson, junior Naomi Hidalgo and sophomores Madelyn Heiser, Sydnee Durtsche, Lily Peterson, Kaydin Davis, Jansi Merz, and Piper Bauer -- don't want to have a repeat start of last season in which the Hardrockers lost their first 12 games and 10 of 11 games to begin RMAC play. Mines would go on to finish 8-14 in league play and 8-20 on the season. She said the freshmen are bringing in that mentality from their high schools that they are going to compete, play hard and do all the little things right.
"That's kind of the environment we've created the last few months," she said. "I've told quite a few people lately that we're young, and when you play that hard, you're probably going to make some mistakes. I think the hustle that our kids have when they're out there makes up for some of those mistakes and makes some of them easier to live with. Something that we preach is I don't care if you make a mistake as long as you're going hard. Now, if you make the same mistake three times in a row we've got to figure something else out and learn from it. But mostly it's the intensity – are you controlling what you can control and focusing on doing those things? That's kind of what we've really invested in and emphasized this year."
Jacobson Owsley said the biggest difference from last year to this year is they have 14 players on the roster that can go full this year. At times last year, she said they weren't able to scrimmage five-on-five in practice because of injuries.
"That's not an excuse, but we're just two completely different teams right now from where we were last year at this time to where we are right now at this time," she said.
Jacobson Owsley welcomes six true freshmen (not including Morning Grace Spotted Bear, who will miss the season with an injury) – Savea Mansfield, Alexis Backhaus, Nora Ritchie, Lauren Herman, Megan Alexander, and Kiera Walsh and one sophomore transfer, Mackenzie Raleigh.
She said the returners have done a good job of setting an example of how we do things and the freshmen have picked it up right away as well.
"We told them during the recruiting process, and I think that's something that really helped. We told them it was going to be hard. We told them they were going to be pushed and challenged, and that it's a hard school on top of that," she said. "But they were willing to sign on to this. We asked do you want to be a part of this? Do you want to be a part of taking our program to the next level? All of them were like, 'yeah I do,' so they committed to that back in the recruiting process. We remind them of that every once in a while, too."
Position outlook
From the point guard position, Heiser (6.7 ppg., 4.0 rpg., 1.6 apg.) will be the starter to open the season. Jacobson Owsley said she has earned the playing time and has worked hard in the offseason and in the fall.
"She's a little more non-traditional point guard. We're trying to get the ball up the floor and get the offense going, and within that we want her looking for opportunities to score," she said. "Lily Peterson, is a sophomore this year and she learned a lot last year, which was a big growth year for her. She had just come off an injury so the speed of the game was different. She grew a lot last year and she took that home, and she worked hard over the summer and is invested in the way we want our point guards to play and do things."
"Our other point guard is Nora Ritchie from Plano, Texas. Nora is a 5-foot-10 point guard, so she's really long and very different from Lily in just her body aspect. But she has great speed and she can handle the ball well. She's a really great passer. Lily is a really great 3-point shooter and Nora is not really an outside shooter, she's more of a slasher that distributes the ball."
Jacobson Owsley said they have a handful of wings, led by Bauer, who returns as the team's third-leading scorer but is likely the top outside threat. She hit 61-of-173 3-point attempts (.353) last season, averaging 8.0 points a game.
"Piper Bauer is a big shooter for us and we need her to shoot the ball for us from 3, and she has had a lot of success in that," she said. "Sophomore Kaydin Davis (1.0 ppg.) has improved her shot, so we're looking to her to kind of step up in that area as well. Bailey Johnson (8.6 ppg., 2.9 rpg.) brings tenacity. She's feisty and does the little things that we need her to do and just does everything right. She cuts hard, she rebounds and she guards some of the best people on the other team, so she's somebody that really leads by example and kind of sets the tone for our intensity. Lauren Herman, a freshman, has got great quickness and a great first step. She plays hard and she just hustles everywhere. She can play multiple positions for us with her versatility." Raleigh and Backhaus are also battling for time at the wing positions and bring different skillsets as well.
In the four position, junior Sydnee Durtsche (3.6 ppg., 5.0 rpg.) and Savea Mansfield look to lead the way.
Durtsche is in her third year in the program and Jacobson Owsley said she has grown a lot from her freshman season.
"She's just a worker. She's not always the flashiest or fanciest, but she gets stuff done," she said. "She does the dirty work. She rebounds, she plays defense and she's been really consistent in those areas. Savea Mansfield, our freshman from Washington, is an undersized four player but with just her strength, we've moved her into that four position. Throughout her career here she could be anything from a two to a four. She is getting comfortable with the offense and is understanding that she can still bring all those perimeter and guard skills to her position."
At the five, Jacobson Owsley will go with junior Naomi Hidalgo (8.6 ppg., 5.4 rpg.), sophomore Jansi Merz (3.1 ppg, 2.9 rpg.), and Alexander.
"This is Naomi's fourth year, so she's got a lot of experience, a lot of game experience. She has a good mindset and has a calming presence for all of our players when they get wound up on the floor," she said. "Jansi Merz is coming back at the five and she has grown a lot in a year. She still has a lot of growth left, but has the work ethic for it and wants to continue to get better. She's going to be physical. Megan is getting accustomed to the different level of post play from high school but has shown tremendous strides and with players like Jansi and Naomi pushing her, she'll improve a lot this year."
Exhibition Season
The Hardrockers had two exhibition games against a pair of strong Division I programs that competed in the NCAA Tournament last season, the University of South Dakota and Montana State University. Although the final scores were a bit lopsided, Jacobson Owsley was pleased with some of their game in both contests.
"Montana State is a phenomenal program. She (head coach Tricia Binford) always has successful teams up there," she said. "This year they returned all of their players from their conference championship team and they've got the preseason MVP, they've got the pre-season all conference players on their team. The score might be similar to what it was last year, but it was a completely different game. We out-rebounded them and had 20 offensive rebounds against a very talented team that plays hard."
Jacobson also felt there were a lot of positives from their game at USD.
"The biggest thing that hurt us in that game from keeping it a close score was we let two of their post players go 8-of-9 from the 3-point line. We wipe that out and that's a closer game," she said. "For us being smaller and being a Division II team, I really like the way we battled and competed in that game. It was just a few of those breakdowns with their post players out on the perimeter."
Schedule
The Hardrockers have a tough pre-conference season with home games against Texas Permian Basin and No. 5 West Texas A&M Friday and Saturday respectively, along with Minot State (Nov. 22) and Black Hills State (Nov. 28, not a conference game), while competing at Sioux Falls (Nov. 18) and Northern State (Nov. 20) on the road.
They open RMAC play Dec. 2-3 with home games against the University of Colorado Colorado Springs and Regis.
This weekend, Mines faces Texas Permian Basin and No. 5 West Texas A&M Saturday in the Conference Challenge. RMAC foe Colorado Mesa faces West Texas A&M Friday and Permian Basin Saturday, with both games at 5 p.m.
Jacobson Owsley said that playing those two exhibition games should help them for this weekend against the Lone Star teams. She said both teams play fast, they push the ball and they play aggressive defense.
"Last year we battled with West Texas A&M and they're fifth in the nation right now. They are a phenomenal team. We weren't full strength last year when we played them, so we've got to be ready to play them on Saturday," she said. "First up is Texas Permian Basin and we have a little bit of redemption just for ourselves after our game against them last season."
Beginning her fourth season with the program, the Mines head coach said it's exciting that the season is here.
"I'm excited for our players. They have put in a lot of work and a lot of time this preseason and it's a fun time for them because now they get to go out and play together to show off to themselves what they've been working on," Jacobson Owsley said. "That's my hope for this week, that the stuff we've been working on shows, and we can build some confidence from that as we continue to move forward in the season. These conference challenges are good for us because we face tough teams that are going to get us prepared for our conference season, which is ultimately the most important part of our season."
About South Dakota Mines
The South Dakota School of Mines & Technology is a member of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) and NCAA Division II offering 11 men's and women's varsity intercollegiate athletic programs. The Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference is a premier NCAA Division II conference with 15 members, as well as four associate members, located in the states of California, Colorado, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Utah.
