THE GAME - Westminster

• The two teams meet for the third time on the hardwood with tip off scheduled for 5:30 p.m. on Saturday. The Yellow Jackets lead the all-time series 2-0.
• Sydnee Taylor and Aubrie Vale are the top leaders for the Griffins. Taylor averages 11.4 points per game while Vale is right behind with 9.9 points per game. Vale leads the Griffins defense averaging 5.8 rebounds per game.
• Westminster was selected to finish 10th overall in the conference in the preseason poll and currently rank 11th in the RMAC.

THE COACHES

• Black Hills State University head coach Mark Nore owns a 259-168 record over 15 seasons with the Yellow Jackets. He is the all-time wins leader for Yellow Jacket basketball.
• Shelley Jarrard enters her sixth season with the Griffins. During her tenure, she has compiled a 104-19 and won four straight Frontier Conference championships. Jarrard has taken the Griffins to four consecutive NAIA National Championships where they earned the No. 1 seed in 2014 and 2015 and advanced to the quarterfinals in three of those four trips. Jarrard has earned Frontier Coach of the Year three times.

 
LAST TIME OUT
Black Hills State traveled to the Rushmore Plaza Civic Center Ice Arena in Rapid City, South Dakota to take on rival South Dakota Mines. The Yellow Jackets fell 61-42 to end a two-game win streak on the road.
 
The Yellow Jackets shot 27 percent from the field, 17 percent from beyond the arc and 44 percent from the line.
 
Abby Switzer was the leading scorer for the Green and Gold with nine points while Balster and Scott were right behind with eight and seven points, respectively.
 
Defensively, Scott grabbed six rebounds while Toms had five.
 
NEW YEAR, NEW TEAM

• The Yellow Jackets found their momentum as they kicked off the New Year winning three out of the last four games to start the month of January off right at 3-1 and 2-0 on the road. Two out of the last four games, the Green and Gold defeated their opponents by more than 20 points. The other two games, Black Hills State went 1-1 against ranked opponents defeating South Central Region No. 6 Fort Lewis 53-52 and losing in a heartbreaking overtime match against undefeated No. 9 CSU-Pueblo 88-87.

 
A VIEW AT THE TOP

• CSU-Pueblo is leading the RMAC with a perfect season at 17-0 and 11-0 in the conference. BHSU threatened that perfect season though as CSUP slipped away with the overtime victory, 88-87. The Yellow Jackets led the majority of the game and in the final seconds of the fourth quarter CSUP forced the overtime where in the last seconds, they took the victory with a game winning layup.