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Black Hills State University Athletics

Black Hills State University Yellow Jacket Athletics
Coach huddle
Abbi Klyaic

Women's Basketball By Abigail Siekmann, BHSU Sports Information

WBB: Yellow Jackets Host Colorado Mesa and Western State

THE GAME - Colorado Mesa
  • The two teams meet for the 10th time on the hardwood with a tip off scheduled for 5:30 p.m. on Friday. The Yellow Jackets trail in the all-time series, 7-2.
  • Bryanna Adams is the leading scorer and rebounder for the Mavericks. Adams averages 20.1 points per game and 6.4 rebounds per game. Adams earned Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Week honors twice. She joins Taylor Trohkimionen on the Preseason All-RMAC Team.
  • The Mavericks were selected to tie for fourth with Black Hills State in the preseason poll but currently rank third while BHSU sits in eighth. Colorado Mesa also ranks sixth nationally in the South Central Region poll.
THE GAME - Western State
  • The two teams meet for the eighth time on the hardwood with tip off scheduled for 4 p.m. on Saturday. The Yellow Jackets lead the all-time series 6-1.
  • Harlie Williams and Katie Najvar are the top leaders for the Mountaineers. Williams averages 8.4 points per game and 4.6 rebounds per game while Najvar averages 4.1 rebounds per game.
  • Western State was selected to finish 13th in the conference and currently hold the 13th rank. 
THE COACHES
  • Black Hills State University head coach Mark Nore owns a 260-168 record over 15 seasons with the Yellow Jackets. He is the all-time wins leader for Yellow Jacket basketball.
  • Taylor Wagner enters his fifth season with the Mavericks. He won his 100th game in February 2016 against Chadron State. In 2013, he led the team to a 31-2 season reaching the NCAA Elite Eight for the first time in program history. With the win against Midwestern State, the Mavericks secured the South Central Region Title.
  • Lora Westling enters her first season with the Mountaineers. Before Western State, Westling spent three season as the head coach of Illinois College's women's basketball program. In her first season with Illinois College, she guided the team to a five-win improvement and followed that up the next season with their first trip to the MWC Tournament in five seasons.
A LOOK AROUND THE RMAC
With only eight game left in the season, Black Hills State is looking to claim a spot into the RMAC Tournament. The top eight teams make it into the tournament and the Yellow Jackets are right on the edge with a 7-7 RMAC record to place them in eighth at the moment. CSU-Pueblo leads the conference with a perfect 13-0 conference record and a 19-0 overall record. Regis, Colorado Mesa, UCCS, Fort Lewis, MSU Denver and Colorado Mines are among the other eight teams that could make the tournament.

A VIEW FROM THE TOP
CSU-Pueblo is leading the RMAC with a perfect season at 19-0 and 13-0 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.
 
RANKED OPPONENTS
Since joining the RMAC and in the NCAA era, Black Hills State is 2-2 against a ranked opponent. The Yellow Jackets defeated No. 6 Fort Lewis 53-52 on Friday, January 13, 2017. The Green and Gold defeated No. 14 Colorado Mesa, 86-81 in the 2014-15 season and lost to No. 9 CSU-Pueblo on December 30, 2016 followed by an overtime loss at the Young Center, 88-87 January 7, 2017.
 
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