THE GAME - University of Colorado Colorado Springs
 

• The two teams meet for the eighth time on the hardwood on Friday with a tipoff scheduled for 5:30 p.m. UCCS leads in the all-time series against Black Hills State, 7-1.

 

• Brittany Hernandez swept the Preseason polls as Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year. She is the top returner for the Mountain Lions. Hernandez averaged 20.8 points per game and finished the 2015-16 with 225 rebounds, averaging eight rebounds per game.

 

• UCCS, ranked 10th in the NCAA South Central Region, is slated to finish third in the conference overall after finishing the 2015-16 season at 21-10 overall and 15-6 in conference action.

THE GAME - MSU Denver
 

• Black Hills State and MSU Denver meet on the hardwood for the 10th time on Saturday with a 5 p.m. tipoff. MSU Denver leads the Yellow Jackets in the all-time series, 6-3.

 

• MSU Denver is slated to finish ninth in the conference this year after coming off a 13-15 overall and 11-11 in conference finish last season.

 

• Georgia Ohrdorf is the top returner for the Roadrunners. Ohrdorf averaged 11.3 points and 6.4 rebounds per game last season. She received All-Conference Honorable Mention honors after the season.

 
THE COACHES
 

• Black Hills State University head coach Mark Nore owns a 253-161 record over 15 seasons with the Yellow Jackets. He is the all-time wins leader for Yellow Jacket basketball.

 

• Lynn Plett enters his first season as the Mountain Lions head coach. Plett spent the last four seasons at Northern Kentucky, where they qualified for postseason play each season while making the transition from Division II to Division I. He has over 20 years of coaching experience.

 

• Tanya Haave enters her seventh season with the Roadrunners. She won RMAC Coach of the Year twice, 2011 and 2012. In those same years, MSU Denver won the RMAC conference title twice. She has led Metro State to its best stint during her first three seasons including NCAA tournament appearances.

TRUE FRESHMAN

Abby Switzer scored her first set of collegiate points against Minnesota State Mankato on November 25 and saw nine minutes of action in her second collegiate game. Joining Switzer, Gabby Doxtator saw her first minutes of action as well against Minnesota State.
 
NOTABLE PLAYERS

Taylor Trohkimoinen scored her first double-digit game of the season against Minnesota State Mankato on November 25 scoring 16 points in the three-point loss. Trohkimoinen also led the defense with nine rebounds, missing a double-double by one rebound. Joining Trohkimoinen, both Toms and Balster scored in double-digits as well. Toms contributed to the offense with 13 points while Balster had 12. Julia Seamans tied her career-high six assists for the second time this season against Minnesota State.
 
TOMS HAS CAREER SETTING GAME

Sierra Toms had a career-high games against Cal Poly Pomona and Northern State at MSU-Billings. Toms notched 14 points twice for a career high. In her career-high 31 minutes of play, she went 6-of-14 from the field with three steals against Cal Poly Pomona. Against Northern State, Toms went 2-of-6 from the three-point range setting a career-high for made and attempts. Due to her efforts at the MSU-Billings Yellowjacket Classic, she was named to the All-Tournament Team.
 
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.