SPEARFISH, S.D. – The Black Hills State University women's basketball team travels to Pueblo, Colo., to take on MSU Denver in the RMAC Semifinals on Friday evening. The game, hosted by CSU-Pueblo, is scheduled to tip off at 5 p.m.

THE GAME - Metropolitan State University of Denver Roadrunners
» The two teams meet for the third time this season when they meet in the RMAC Semifinals on Friday. The Yellow Jackets won the meeting in Spearfish, 72-57, while the Roadrunners won in Denver, 77-63. In BHSU's victory, Lyndzi Rich had 16 points, while Julia Seamans and Rachel Erickson each had 13. In the win for MSU Denver, Remi Wientjes had 16, while Erickson added 14.

» MSU Denver finished the regular season with a 21-7 overall record and a 17-5 conference record to earn the No. 2 seed in the RMAC Shootout. The Roadrunners defeated Colorado Mesa, 71-58, in the RMAC Quarterfinals.

» The Roadrunners average 68.0 points per game, led by Georgia Ohrdorf, who scores 15.5 points per game. J'Nae Squires-Horton (12.1 ppg) and Jaelynn Smith (11.1 ppg) also average double-figure scoring. Mikala Gordon leads the squad in rebounding, pulling down 7.3 rpg.

THE COACHES
» Black Hills State University head coach Mark Nore enters his 16th season with the Yellow Jackets and owns a 285-181 record. He is the all-time wins leader for the Yellow Jacket basketball team.

» Tanya Haave is in her eighth year as head coach of the Roadrunners. She was recently named RMAC Coach of the Year.

Last Time Out
Black Hills State defeated Fort Lewis in an RMAC Quarterfinal game on Tuesday. The Yellow Jackets won, 56-53, to advance to the semifinals.
 
Rachel Erickson led the way for the Green and Gold, scoring 19 points. Lyndzi Rich added 14, while Keely Bertram pulled down 10 rebounds.
 
BHSU trailed by one at the half, 27-26, but came back to lead by as many as 10. The Green and Gold ultimately held on to earn a three-point victory.
 
RMAC Tournament
The Yellow Jackets earned the No. 3 seed in the RMAC Tournament after finishing the regular season with a 16-6 conference record. After defeating Fort Lewis, BHSU will take on MSU Denver. In the other semifinal matchup, top-seeded CSU-Pueblo takes on Regis.
 
Host with the Most
The Green and Gold hosted an RMAC Quarterfinal for the second time in three years. In the first instance, BHSU hosted Colorado Christian in the quarterfinal round of the 2015-16 RMAC Tournament, ultimately falling, 71-59. The last time the Yellow Jackets hosted a home playoff game was 2011.
 
Player of the Week
Rachel Erickson was named the RMAC Offensive Player of the Week for her play against Colorado Mesa (Feb. 17). Erickson scored 19 points, and filled up the stat sheet with three rebounds, two assists, a block, and three steals. The senior is the first Yellow Jacket to earn a conference weekly award since Dakota Barrie was named Defensive Player of the Week in January 2015. She is the first to earn Offensive honors since Callie Bechtel claimed the award in January 2013.
 
NEW YEAR, NEW SEASON
The Yellow Jackets finished the 2018 portion of the regular season 12-3. Since joining the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference and the NCAA era in 2012, the Yellow Jackets have captured their second best start to the second half of the season. In the 2015-16 season, the Yellow Jackets went 7-3 for the month of January and finished their season 21-8 overall, 17-5 in conference, and earned their first ever NCAA Tournament appearance losing in the second round to West Texas A&M, 63-48.
 
Record Record
The Green and Gold finished the regular season 22-6 overall. This qualifies them for the best record of a BHSU team since the 2010-11 season, when it finished 24-8, falling in the NAIA Quarterfinals.
 
National Ranking
Black Hills State broke into the D2SIDA Top 25 at the No. 25 spot for the first time in program history. The two RMAC wins over UCCS and MSU Denver gave BHSU the edge to break into the national poll. The Yellow Jackets started the season 8-0, but dropped out of the poll after dropping the next two games.
 
Best Start
The Yellow Jackets surpassed their best start in the NCAA era by beginning 8-0. This puts them second in the all-time records list just six games short of the 14-0 start by the 1997-98 squad under the helm of Kevin Dobbs. Black Hills State was a part of the South Dakota Intercollegiate Conference in the NAIA division during that 14-0 start.
 
Breaking Records
Julia Seamans broke the school record for 3-pointers made in a game with eight against Johnson & Wales (11/18/17) surpassing Rachel Erickson from the week before, who notched seven to tie the program record. Seamans set a new career-high of 24 points after her three-point performance. Erickson's seven 3-point performance helped her reach a new career-high of 26 points against Texas A&M International (11/11/17) and tied the program individual game record of 3-pointers made in a game. Hannah Cass scored her first collegiate double-figure game with 11 points as a redshirt freshman, while Keely Bertram notched her first career double-double with 10 points and 13 rebounds in the game against Texas A&M International. Bertram's 13 rebounds was a new career-high for her as well.
 
Erickson on Fire
Rachel Erickson continues to tear up the floor, as she notched her second 20-point game of the season. Erickson notched 23 points against Minnesota State-Mankato (11/14/17) going 10-of-16 from the field, setting a new career-high for field goals made and attempted. The Cheyenne, Wyoming, native is averaging 22.7 points per game, three games into the season. Erickson tied the program record for 3-pointers made in a game with seven against Texas A&M International (11/11/17).
  Black Hills State is located in the Northern Black Hills of South Dakota, sponsoring 13 NCAA sports with membership in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, the NCAA emerging sport of women's triathlon and NIRA rodeo. For all information regarding Yellow Jacket Athletics, please visit BHSUAthletics.com or follow us on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram @BHSUAthletics.