SPEARFISH, S.D. – The Black Hills State University women's basketball team begins a five-game road streak starting on Friday, January 26 and Saturday, January 27 with Colorado Mesa and Western State. Tipoff is slated for 5:30 p.m. on Friday and 5 p.m. on Saturday.
 
THE GAME - Colorado Mesa

• The two teams meet on the hardwood for the 12th time on Friday, January 26, with tipoff slated for 5:30 p.m. The Mavericks lead the all-time series, 8-3.
• Erin Reichle and Jaylyn Duran lead the Mavericks offense with 15.6 and 15.4 ppg, respectively. Reichle was named to the Preseason All-RMAC Team, and leads CMU in assists with a 3.9 per game average.
• Colorado Mesa currently sits in a third place tie with Black Hills State with a 15-4 record and a 9-4 RMAC record. The Mavericks rank eighth in the South Central Region, right behind Black Hills State.

THE GAME - Western State

• The two teams meet for the eighth time on the hardwood on Saturday, January 27, with tipoff slated for 5 p.m. Black Hills State leads the all-time series, 6-1.
• Katie Dalton has played in all 19 games for the Mountaineers and averages 9.8 points per game. On defense, Jessie Erickson leads Western State with a 5.9 rebounds per game average including a defensive rebound average of 5.1.
• Western State currently ranks 12th in the conference with a 3-10 conference record and a 6-13 overall record.

THE COACHES

• Black Hills State University head coach Mark Nore enters his 16th season with the Yellow Jackets and owns a 277-179 record. He is the all-time wins leader for the Yellow Jacket basketball team.
• Taylor Wagner is in his sixth season at the helm of the Mavericks program. He earned his 100th career win in 2016. In 2013, just his second season with the program, he led the team to a 31-2 record reaching the NCAA Tournament Elite Eight for the first time in program history.
• Lora Westling is in her second season with the Lady Mountaineers. She claimed seven victories in her first season, making it the most wins in five seasons. Prior to Western, Westling spent three season as head coach at Illinois College. She improved the Lady Blues record by five wins in both the overall and conference. In 2014, Westline led the team to their first trip to the Midwest Conference Tournament in five seasons.

LAST TIME OUT
 
Black Hills State earned two more home wins, defeating South Dakota Mines, 82-50, on Tuesday, January 16, and Westminster, 58-38, on Thursday, January 18.
 
Against SD Mines, Rachel Erickson led the way with 16 points, followed by Julia Seamans with 14, and Lyndzi Rich with 12. Erickson tied her career-high assists with six. Rich grabbed a team high six rebounds.
 
Against Westminster, the Yellow Jackets held Denise Gonzalez and Hunter Krebs to a season-low four points. Haddi Williams notched a double-double for the Griffins, scoring 17 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. Remi Wientjes led the way for the Green and Gold offense, notching her third double digit game of the season, and fifth in her career, with 14 points. Hannah Cass grabbed a career- and team-high nine rebounds.

Following the weekend, the Yellow Jackets will head to Metropolitan State University Denver on Friday, February 2, and the University of Colorado Colorado Springs on Saturday, February 3. Tipoff is scheduled for 4 p.m. on Friday and 5:30 p.m. on Saturday.