SPEARFISH, S.D. – The Black Hills State University women's basketball team returns to action for its final home game of 2017, welcoming the Colorado State University-Pueblo ThunderWolves on Saturday, December 30. Tipoff is slated for 4 p.m.

THE GAME - Colorado State University-Pueblo

• The two teams meet for the 14th time on the hardwood on Saturday, with a tipoff scheduled for 4:00 p.m. The ThunderWolves lead the all-time series, 9-4.
• Katie Cunningham leads the defense, averaging 9.5 rebounds per game. Cunningham is the Preseason Defensive Player of the Year, and won Player of the Year honors at the end of last season. Cunningham is also a member of the Preseason All-RMAC team, and captured First Team All-RMAC last season.
• Joining Cunningham, Molly Rohrer was named the Preseason Player of the Year and leads the ThunderWolves in scoring, averaging 15.6 points per game. Rohrer claimed Player of the Year honors last season and was First Team All-RMAC. Rohrer also joins Cunningham on the Preseason All-RMAC team.
• Rachel Erickson leads the offense for the Yellow Jackets averaging 13.6 points per game. True freshman Lyndzi Rich joins Erickson, as she averages 10.0 points per game to rank second on the team. Rich is shooting 63.5 percent from the field.
• Defensively, true freshman Katie Messler leads the team with 7.8 rebounds per game. Messler is a dominating force on the boards, and has grabbed a total of 94 boards in all 12 games for the Green and Gold.
• CSU-Pueblo was picked to finish first in the conference according to the Preseason Coaches' Poll, and currently sit in first place with an undefeated conference record of 6-0, but hold an 8-4 overall record.

THE COACHES

• Black Hills State University head coach Mark Nore enters his 16th season with the Yellow Jackets and owns a 272-177 record. He is the all-time wins leader for the Yellow Jacket basketball team.
• Curtis Loyd enters his first season at the helm of the ThunderWolves women's basketball program. Previous to CSU-Pueblo, Loyd coached at Louisiana State University Shreveport, where he led the team to a program-record of 15 conference wins in the NAIA, and a 22-10 record. He earned Coach of the Year honors in just one season with the Pilots. During his helm, he also guided the Pilots to their first Red River Athletic Conference Tournament Championship.

LAST TIME OUT

The Yellow Jackets won a pair of contests on December 15 and 16, defeating Regis, 65-58, and Chadron State, 65-46, increasing their home win streak to nine.
 
Against Regis, Lyndzi Rich led the way scoring a career- and season-high 22 points. Rich went 9-of-11 from the field and 4-of-7 from the line, in 19 minutes of action. Keely Bertram and Rachel Erickson each scored 10 points apiece. Katie Messler grabbed seven boards.
 
Against Chadron State, Remi Wientjes scored a career-high 14 points, going 5-of-7 from the field, 2-of-4 from beyond the arc, and 2-of-2 from the line. Erickson scored 10 points. Messler tied her season and career-high with 12 rebounds.

Following the weekend, the Green and Gold start the New Year on the road at New Mexico Highlands and Colorado State University-Pueblo on Friday, January 5 and Saturday, January 6. Tipoff is slated for 5:30 p.m. on Friday and 4 p.m. on Saturday.