RAPID CITY, S.D. – Ahead of the start of the 2024-25 season, the RMAC released its players to watch earlier this week, and Piper Bauer was named for the Hardrockers.
In addition, the season starts this weekend as South Dakota Mines takes on Texas Permian Basin and West Texas A&M on Friday and Saturday, November 8 and 9 with tip-offs scheduled at 11:00 a.m. MT and 2:00 p.m. MT
POINT GUARDS:
Emily Thomas is South Dakota Mines' lone returning true point guard as she enters her second season with the program.
As a freshman, Thomas started in 11 games before her season was cut short. She averaged 2.6 assists and three rebounds per game.
Other primary ball handlers could include Emma Martin and Alexis Backhaus, among others.
GUARDS:
The Hardrockers bring back several guards with experience for this season.
Samantha Darnell, Alexis Backhaus, Piper Bauer and Lauren Herman return for the Hardrockers.
Mikah Hammerquist and Madeline Hartel are freshmen, while Emma Martin and Miquedah Taliman are new members of the roster but have experience.
Samantha Darnell hopes to make a difference after redshirting in 2023-24.
Piper Bauer has been near the top of the Division II level in three-pointers made each of the last two years. In 2023-24, Bauer finished 14th in total three-pointers made and eighth in three-pointers made per game. Her 37.9% made from three-point range was 33rd nationally at this level. In addition, Bauer is just 37 three-pointers away from breaking current assistant coach Ryan Weiss's school record for three-pointers made in a career.
The senior was an all-conference selection in 2023-24, averaging 16.1 points per game, and looks to improve upon that in her final season.
Mikah Hammerquist joins the roster as a freshman from Monroe, Washington. She was a double-digit scorer for three years, scoring over 1,000 points in her senior year, averaging 17.5 points per game and over four assists per game in her sophomore-senior seasons. Starting 55 games in her final three years, she is the current all-time leading scorer in North Creek history. In her final season, she broke eight school records and led the state in three-pointers made with 95. Hammerquist was a three-time all-league player.
Madeline Hartel joins the program from Erie, Colorado and Erie High School. A two-time all-conference and all-state selection, Hartel started 55 games over her final three years, averaging over 13 points per game each season. Hartel helped lead the team to three state tournaments.
Emma Martin joins the program after spending four seasons at Division II Pittsburg State University. Martin was a steady contributor for a consistently ranked program, playing 61 games, including all 28 in her most recent season, averaging 10 minutes per game. In that program, Martin was part of a team that won an NCAA tournament the past two years and won a conference championship last season. Martin was a three-time all-conference selection and an all-state selection during her high school career at Mountain Home High School in Mountain Home, Arkansas, helping to lead them to the state tournament in four consecutive years.
Another player with experience but new to the Hardrockers is Miquedah Taliman. Taliman spent two seasons at a junior college as a significant contributor at Mesa Community College. Starting in 47 games and playing 52 across her two years, Taliman averaged over 20 minutes per game for her career. She scored an average of 7.1 points per game and 3.4 rebounds per game. In high school, Taliman was a four-time all-conference selection and an all-state selection and was named 3A North Region Player of the Year following her senior season.
FORWARDS:
Savea Mansfield, Sydnee Durtsche, Morning Grace Spotted Bear and Lauren Herman return as forwards for the Hardrockers.
Savea Mansfield has contributed significantly in her first two years, starting 31 games, including 22 last season. After averaging 30 minutes per game, 11 points and five rebounds per game, she is looking to become an even more prominent factor for the team.
Another junior, Alexis Backhaus, has seen her role increase each year. As a sophomore, she appeared in all 26 games, starting in five. She was a key part of the rotation throughout the season, playing 16 minutes per game.
Sydnee Durtsche returns as a graduate student after being a key player in 2021-22 and 2022-23, missing much of the 2024-25 season due to injury. The graduate student is a phenomenal rebounder and defender, near the top of the RMAC in rebounding, averaging 6.5 rebounds per game.
Morning Grace Spotted Bear was an immediate contributor last year as a redshirt freshman, starting in 18 games and playing in 27 and averaging 7.4 points per game while averaging 6.3 rebounds per game.
Lauren Herman has been a critical rotation player for the past two years, averaging nearly 20 points and playing every game.
POST:
Megan Alexander spends nearly all her time in the low block as a traditional post and is going into her junior year after playing 24 games each of the past two years.
She can be effective down there at times and hopes to develop that more consistently in her third year.
OPENING WEEKEND
Texas Permian Basin and West Texas A&M are on the docket for the first weekend of play for the Hardrockers.
The 2023-24 team was strong, finishing 24-8 and 17-5 in conference play and earning a trip to the national tournament.
On the heels of that, they were picked fourth in the Lonestar Preseason Poll. Morgan Helgesen and Avalon Munoz lead a sizeable returning group on nine.
West Texas A&M is the next opponent for the women's basketball team, and they are coming off a good year as well. They went 18-13 and 13-9 in conference play and went all the way to the Lone Star Conference Championship before falling to UT Tyler to end their season.
Already having played two games, West Texas A&M is 1-1. Their leading scorers are Kyla Kane and Randi Harding, who average 16 and 12 points per game, respectively.
LOOKING AHEAD
Following the weekend in Texas, the Hardrockers will host the East/West Challenge, where they will play Sioux Falls on Friday, Nov. 15, at 3:30 p.m. and Northern State on Saturday at 6:00 p.m.
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 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.
