THE GAME - Cal Poly Pomona

• Cal Poly Pomona is slated to finish third in the California Collegiate Athletic Association after finishing 11-17 overall and 9-11 in conference.

 

• Friday will be the first ever meeting between the two schools, with tipoff at 5:30 p.m. MST

 

•  Jordyn Shane is among three of the top returners for the Broncos. She averaged 10.9 points per game and was Freshman of the Year last season.

 
THE GAME - Northern State

•  Jill Conrad, the top returner for the Wolves, led the team averaging 13.5 points per game and 6.9 rebounds last season. She scored in double-digits in 22 games. Conrad was selected as the Preseason Player of the Year for the North Division of the NSIC.

 

• NSU was picked to finish first in the North Division but second overall in the NSIC behind opponent Winona State as selected by the coaches after finishing 17-5 in conference and 23-8 overall.

 

• The two teams meet for the 18th time on the hardwood with a 3 p.m. tipoff on Saturday.

 
THE COACHES

• Black Hills State University head coach Mark Nore owns a 253-158 record over 15 seasons with the Yellow Jackets. He is the all-time wins' leader for Yellow Jacket basketball.

 

• Danelle Bishop enters her seventh season with the Broncos. She has guided the team to four NCAA Tournament appearances which includes three trips to the Sweet Sixteen, two trips to the Elite Eight and one Final Four appearance. She owns a 257-145 career record in 14 years of coaching.

 

• Curt Fredrickson has coached NSU for 37 seasons attaining 796 wins. He is the second-winningest active NCAA II women's basketball coach. He is the 16th head coach across all NCAA divisions to reach the 700-win mark. He has tallied four Hall of Fame honors, two national championships, numerous NSIC Conference titles and a tournament title. He has three straight NCAA Central Region Tournament appearances.

 
YELLOW JACKETS RETURNERS

• Black Hills State returns three starters from 2015-16 in Taylor Trohkimoinen, Cheyanne Balster and Remi Wientjes. Trohkimoinen averaged 9.0 points and 3.1 assists per game. Balster scored 7.5 points and 5.2 rebounds per game. Wientjes averaged 4.8 points per game. Other returners include Julia Seamans, Rachel Erickson, Sierra Toms, Kassidy Scott, Keely Bertram, and Dylan Wright.

 
NEW YEAR, NEW TEAM

• Black Hills State returns just eight players that saw action for the Yellow Jackets last season and welcomed seven new faces, not including two redshirts. Dylan Wright sat out the 2015-16 season but is poised to play a role in the Yellow Jackets 2016-17 season.

 
THE COACHES' PROJECTION

• Black Hills State was voted to tie for fourth place with Colorado Mesa in the 2016-17 RMAC Coaches' Poll. Colorado State-Pueblo was chosen as the preseason favorite with eight of 15 first-place votes.

 
MOST WINS IN NCAA ERA

• Black Hills State tallied its most wins in the NCAA era in the 2015-16 season with 21 victories. The Green and Gold also notched its first NCAA Tournament appearance where they advanced to the second round. The 21 wins eclipsed the 14 wins in the 2011-12 season, and 17 conference victories last year topped the previous best of 13 wins.

 
PRESEASON ALL-RMAC

• Taylor Trohkimoinen was named to Preseason All-RMAC Team as well as First Team All-RMAC. Trohkimoinen averaged 9.0 points, 4.7 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game last season. She scored in the double digits on 11 occasions and scored a season-high 19 points twice. Brittany Hernandez of UCCS was named the Preseason Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year.