RAPID CITY, S.D. – On Saturday evening, the South Dakota Mines women's basketball team finished its season on senior night, taking on CCU.
The Hardrockers honored their three seniors, Lily Peterson, Madelyn Heiser and Naomi Hidalgo as they played their last game as Hardrockers and each picked up the start.
Unfortunately, South Dakota Mines was not able to pick up the victory as CCU shot it well in the second half and left the King Center with an 83-66 victory.
HOW IT HAPPENED
To begin the first quarter, the Hardrockers got out to a solid start, getting out to an 8-3 advantage, before CCU answered with nine straight, taking a 12-8 lead and led 14-10 after one.
In the second quarter, the teams battled to a deadheat for the most part, but a big play came when Madelyn Heiser drilled a three-pointer and got fouled, cutting the deficit to 25-22. Later, Heiser called for a screen involving Lauren Herman leading to a Herman three.
On the next possession, Megan Alexander hit a trey of her own to end the half with CCU leading 34-32.
CCU was able to expand the lead early in the third, taking an eight-point, 47-39 lead with just under five minutes to play. The Cougars would continue to play well and expand its lead to 11, 56-45 with just over a minute to go in the third.
The Hardrockers would close the third with a buzzer beater from Savea Mansfield, cutting the deficit to nine, 60-51.
A strong offensive start to the fourth would give the Cougars their biggest lead of the game at 67-54 with 7:51 remaining.
An and-1 from Savea Mansfield on a feed from Heiser would give the 'Rockers some momentum and cut the deficit to 10. On the next offensive possession, Mansfield would get another bucket, cutting it to eight, but CCU would answer again, expanding the lead to 13 again, 74-61 and would eventually come away with an 83-66 victory.
NOTES
Megan Alexander led the team, scoring 18 points…Piper Bauer and Savea Mansfield were both in double digits, scoring 11 and 10 points…The Hardrockers got contributions from all three seniors as Naomi Hidalgo had five points and six rebounds, Madelyn Heiser scored seven points in 28 minutes and Lily Peterson played well in 13 minutes.
Fans can find the latest on South Dakota Mines men's basketball all year long on X and Instagram (@hardrockermbb), while also following on Facebook at South Dakota Mines Men'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
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.
