RAPID CITY, S.D. – The South Dakota Mines women's basketball team will close the 2023 portion of their season on the road Saturday afternoon, Dec. 30 against Minot State University in Minot, N.D.
The non-conference game against the Beavers begins at noon MT at the Minot State Dome. The Hardrockers are coming off a 59-56 road win over New Mexico Highlands Dec. 16 and are now 2-4 in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play.
Minot State University
Date/Time: Dec. 30 / 12 p.m. MT
Site: Minot, N.D.
Arena: Minot State Dome
Series Overall: Minot State leads 24-20.
Streak: Minot State Won 3
Series at Minot State: Minot State leads 9-4 (Since 2002)
Streak at Minot State: Minot State Won 4
Last Meeting: Minot State won in Rapid City, 62-58 (11/22/22).
Watch Live: NSIC Network |
www.nsicnetwork.com/msubeavers
POWER OFF THE BENCH
Freshman Morning Grace Spotted Bear and sophomore Megan Alexander are coming off career games against New Mexico Highlands, both off the bench. Spotted Bear finished with 14 points on 6-of-12 shooting from the field, hitting both of her free throws. She also had four rebounds and two steals. Alexander had her first double-double as a Hardrocker with 10 points and 10 rebounds. She was 3-of-8 from the field and 4-of-4 from the free-throw line. She also grabbed four offensive rebounds.
CHARITY FROM THE STRIPE
In the 59-56 win over New Mexico Highlands, the Hardrockers were a perfect 16-of-16 from the free-throw line. Junior Piper Bauer was 6-of-6, Alexander 4-of-4 and senior Madelyn Heiser, sophomore Savea Mansfield and Spotted Bear were 2-of-2.
PIPER FROM DEEP
Bauer continues to have a hot hand from the outside for the Hardrockers. She leads the team in scoring at 15.0 points a game, seventh in the conference, shooting .358 (59-of-165), eighth in the conference. She is among the best in the conference from the land of 3, hitting 34-of-90 3-pointers for a .378 percentage, which is fifth in the RMAC. Her 34 3-pointers ranks her sixth in the country and her 90 attempts are 15th in the nation. She is averaging 3.1 3-pointers per game, which ranks her second in the RMAC and seventh in the country at the Division II level.
MANSFIELD LEADS THE WAY
Mansfield, a 5-11 sophomore, leads the team in field-goal percentage at .465 (40-of-86). She is also in second place on the team in free-throw percentage at 81.5 and leads the team in free throws made (22-of-27). Although she has started just five games, she also leads the team in steals with 12.
GRABBING THE OFFENSIVE BOARDS
As a team, the Hardrockers are fifth in the conference in offensive rebounding with 129, an average of 11.7 per game. Heiser leads the team with 18 offensive boards, while Mansfield has 17 and Spotted Bear has 15 offensive boards, although she has started just two games this season.
DISHING IT OUT
True freshman Emily Thomas continues to lead the team in assists with 28, averaging 2.5 per game which is 10th in the conference. The 5-10 point guard also has 34 rebounds in 11 games.
SCOUTING MINOT STATE
Minot State is 1-5 in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference and 3-11 on the season. The Beavers have lost three straight games, all in the NSIC, 75-67 to the University of Mary, 67-57 to Northern State and 68-40 to Minnesota State University Moorhead. All three games were at the Minot State Dome. Their last win was on Dec. 5, 72-58 over Valley City State University, also at the Minot State Dome.
The Beavers are led by 5-foot, 7 junior Sydney Gustavsson, who is averaging 11.9 points a game, 3.0 rebounds per contest and 1.5 steals per game. Taylor Goss, a 5-10 redshirt sophomore, is scoring 8.1 points and 3.0 rebounds per game. Emma Mogen, a 5-8 junior, is scoring 6.9 points per game and 5-9 sophomore Jamie Skeggs and 6-4 sophomore Emily Srejma at 6.3 per game respectively. Lorelei McIver, a 6-0 sophomore, leads the team in rebounding at 3.9 boards per game and 5-5 sophomore Viborg Jonsdottir leads the team with 37 assists.
LOOKING AHEAD
South Dakota Mines returns to RMAC play at home in the King Center for three straight games. The Hardrockers host Fort Lewis Friday, Jan. 5 at 5:30 p.m., Adams State Saturday, Jan. 6 at 4 p.m. and Western Colorado Friday, Jan. 12 at 5:30 p.m.
Fans can find the latest on South Dakota Mines women's basketball all year long on X and Instagram (@hardrockerwbb), while also following on Facebook at South Dakota Mines Women's Basketball. The latest on South Dakota Mines athletics can be found by following us on X at @GoHardrockers, hardrockerathletics on Instagram and Hardrocker Athletics on Facebook.
ABOUT SOUTH DAKOTA MINES
South Dakota Mines is a member of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) and NCAA Division II offering 13 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.
