RAPID CITY, S.D. – The South Dakota Mines women's basketball team closed a three-game home series in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play when it hosted Western Colorado Friday night at the King Center.
The Hardrockers would lead for 79 percent of the game and won their second straight contest 73-62. With the win, South Dakota Mines moved to 4-5 in RMAC, while the Mountains dropped to 0-7 in league play.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Both teams struggled early, with the Hardrockers up 7-6 on baskets by redshirt-freshman
Morning Grace Spotted Bear and senior
Madelyn Heiser, followed by a 3-pointer by junior
Piper Bauer. But Western Colorado got a 3-pointer and a three-point play to regain the lead at five points.
Bauer, who had eight points in the opening quarter, hit her second 3-pointer late to cut the Mountaineer lead to 15-12 going into the second period.
The Hardrockers opened the second period hot with four points from Bauer and a 3-pointer by sophomore
Lauren Herman for a 19-15 lead. Despite two 3-pointers from the Mountaineers, the Hardrockers led 26-21 after a three-point play from senior
Naomi Hidalgo and a mid-range jumper by Bauer.
Consecutive baskets by sophomore
Savea Mansfield and Spotted Bear and one free throw by Heiser put the South Dakota Mines lead at eight, 36-28 at the halftime break. Bauer paced the Hardockers with 14 points and Herman added six. SD Mines was 15-of-31 from the field, hitting 4-of-7 3-pointers.
Early in the third, the Hardrockers built their first double-digit lead of the game at 42-32 on a pair of free throws by Mansfield. Two straight 3-pointers by Bauer and a Heiser layup put the 'Rockers up 52-40 with three minutes remaining in the third.
Five late points from Heiser, including a 3-pointer with 16 seconds remaining, put South Dakota Mines up 59-46 going into the fourth period.
A basket by sophomore
Megan Alexander and a long 3-pointer by Bauer got the Hardrockers going in the fourth for their largest lead of the game at 64-48.A 10-2 run by Western Colorado cut the South Dakota Mines lead in half before the 'Rockers got two layups by Hidalgo and a 3-pointer by Bauer to go back up 13 with one minute remaining.
The Mountaineers scored at the buzzer to make the final score 73-62.
GAME NOTES
Piper Bauer had another strong shooting night leading all scorers with 26 points on 10-of-14 from the field and 6-of-8 3-pointers. She also had three rebounds, two assists and two steals.
Madelyn Heiser and
Savea Mansfield also scored in double figures with 12 and 10 points respectively. Heiser was 5-of-9 from the field, hitting 1-of-3 3s. Mansfeld was 4-of-11 from the field with five rebounds and two assists.
Naomi Hidalgo added nine points and six rebounds, while
Lauren Herman scored eight points, hitting 3-of-4 3-pointers.
Morning Grace Spotted Bear finished with six points and a career-high 14 rebounds. It was the third straight game of double-digit rebounding for Spotted Bear, who also had two assists and three steals. As a team, SD Mines shot 48 percent from the field (30-of-63) and hit a blistering 56 percent 3-pointers (9-of-16). The Hardrockers also out-rebounded Western Colorado 37-27 and led the game for 31:42 minutes, to just 4:32 for the Mountaineers.
COMING UP
The Hardrockers return to the road next weekend for a pair of RMAC contests. South Dakota Mines is in Salt Lake City, Utah Friday, Jan. 19 to face Westminster at 5 p.m. and Saturday, Jan. 20 in Grand Junction, Colo., to face Colorado Mesa, with tip-off 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.
