BHSU women's basketball (9-2, 4-1 RMAC) returns from the holiday break for a road trip to Colorado for a pair of weekend matchups. They tipoff against Adams State on Friday, Dec. 30 at 5:30 p.m. before their New Years' Eve clash with the Fort Lewis Skyhawks at 3:30 p.m.

BHSU currently sits second in the conference behind Colorado Mines, who is 10-1 overall and 6-0 in the RMAC. As a team, BHSU still holds a top ten offense and a number two defense in the conference, scoring 65.6 points per game while holding their opponents to 56.9 per contest.
 

BLACK HILLS STATE  at  Adams State   FRIDAY, DEC. 30 // 5:30 P.M. // ALAMOSA, COLO. // PLACHY HALL Live Stream / Live Stats / Game Notes / Tickets

FRIDAY VS. ADAMS STATE
Adams State returns to their home court for the first time since Dec. 2 as they have had a rough three game stretch on the road, which was capped off with a close 68-64 loss to Colorado Mesa on Dec. 17.

Despite the rocky road for the Grizzlies, they still hold the top scoring offense in the RMAC as they've averaged 77.1 points per bout so far this season, led by freshman guard Harmanie Dominguez. She leads her squad with 151 points on the season (13.7 per game) and sits 11th in the conference. The ASU defense is also stout, holding a top five spot in the RMAC as they've held opposition to 62.3 points per game.

GRIZZLIES' LAST TIMEOUT
GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – The Colorado Mesa Mavericks defeated the Adams State Grizzlies 68-64 in a narrow game that was decided in the final moments of the fourth quarter.

Colorado Mesa controlled much of the first half, leading by as much as nine points in the second quarter at 20-11, but an 11-2 rally that ran to the 3:06 mark put the Grizzlies back in it at 24-22. Both teams duked it out, but CMU went into the locker room with a three-point 29-26 lead over ASU at the intermission.

Out of the break, a three pointer from Kiiyani Anitielu and a layup from Darlisha Reed tied the game back up at 31-a-piece with 7:48 to go in the third quarter, with both teams trading the lead three times and tying twice. ASU eventually took the lead down the stretch, heading into the final quarter on a Sharmayne Finley buzzer beater to go up 50-45.

CMU started the quarter with a pair of perfect trips to the charity stripe to bring the scoreboard to a tight 50-49 score with 8:29 to go in the game, with the Mavericks tying the contest up once again 60 seconds later.

Both teams tied and traded the lead heading down to the final two minutes, with ASU and CMU tied 62-all with 2:08 remaining. Following a free throw from CMU, the Mavericks ran a six-point rally that gave them enough room to slip by the Grizzlies in this one, with ASU falling 68-64.

LAST MATCHUP: BHSU vs. ASU (Feb. 4, 2022)
Black Hills State women's basketball kept their home court winning streak alive Friday night as they defeated the Adams State Grizzlies 67-65 in overtime at the Donald E Young Center.

Black Hills State (13-7, 11-3 RMAC) had three athletes earn double digit totals on the night with Danica Kocer leading the way racking up 18 points. Kocer also led the team in rebounds with six.

Haylee Weathersby and Niki Van Wyk each saw double digit totals as well with 11 points apiece.

Adams State got on the board early with a three pointer to open scoring before the Yellow Jackets would go up 7-3 on two layups by Kocer and a three by Engesser. At that point the Yellow Jackets offense stalled allowing the Grizzlies to take a ten-point lead at 21-11. The Yellow Jackets came storming back at that point setting the score at 21-19 heading into the second quarter.

The Yellow Jackets tied things up at 24 all on a Haylee Weathersby layup with 6:55 to play in the half. BHSU and ASU would battle from that point with neither team garnering more than a two-point lead. The Grizzlies held the edge with a two-point lead going into the break at 31-29.

Adams State came out of the half on a hot streak as they would put up four straight points to open a six-point lead at 35-29 over the Yellow Jackets. From that point BHSU put together a 16-11 run cutting the Grizzlies lead to one heading into the final quarter of play.

The Yellow Jackets and Grizzlies played an evenly matched game through the fourth quarter as the two teams would be tied five times throughout the quarter. With 1:40 left to play Danica Kocer gave BHSU the lead on a pair of free throws before Adams State knotted things up at 59 all with eight seconds to play sending the game to overtime.

The teams stayed tight throughout overtime as the teams ended up locked at 63 and 65 before BHSU sealed the victory on a Haylee Weathersby layup assisted by Ashlee Beacom with 0.01 on the clock.

A FRIDAY BHSU WIN WOULD...
Maintain BHSU's conference standing at number two as a win would keep the Yellow Jackets ahead of CSU Pueblo, who also holds a third-place 4-1 conference mark and is 7-4 overall.

A FRIDAY BHSU LOSS WOULD...
Send the ladies to a 9-3 record that, depending on the results from Friday's contests, could knock the Yellow Jackets out of the top five in the RMAC.
 

BLACK HILLS STATE  at  Fort Lewis   SATURDAY, DEC. 31 // 3:30 P.M. // DURANGO, COLO. // WHALEN GYMNASIUM Live Stream / Live Stats / Game Notes / Tickets

SATURDAY VS. FORT LEWIS
The Skyhawks are also coming off a long stretch on the road that saw losses to New Mexico Highlands and CSU Pueblo before their narrow 63-62 victory over Westminster on Dec. 17. As a team, FLC is low-ranked in most categories; however, freshman guard Lanae Billy is the number four scorer and top ten shooter in the RMAC. Lanae currently holds 16.5 points per game and a .383 clip from the floor, including an eighth-best 37.8 percent mark from three.

SKYHAWKS' LAST TIMEOUT
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Double-digit points from four Skyhawks resulted in a 63-62 rout of the Griffins in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play on Saturday afternoon. Fort Lewis improves to 5-6 overall and 2-3 in the RMAC while Westminster drops to 5-6, 3-2 RMAC.

Graduate student Kaitlyn Bell led the team with a season-high 18 points to go along with 12 rebounds for her second double-double of the season. Senior Alyssa Adams followed with a season-high 14 points—all of which came in the second half. Freshman Lanae Billy had 14 points for her 10th double-digit outing of the season. Sophomore Avery Evans matched a season-high with 13 points while dishing out four assists.

The Skyhawks shot 43.4 percent (23-of-53) from the field versus a 41.8 percent (23-of-55) clip for the Griffins. The teams were nearly even from three and from the free-throw line, but Westminster edged out Fort Lewis in rebounds, 36-31. The game saw 10 tied scores, many of which came in the second half, but Fort Lewis held the lead for 31 minutes of play.

"Tonight we focused on our one goal, and that is to play as a team," said head coach Taylor Harris. "Westminster did a good job of taking away Lanae, and Kaitlyn did a great job of asserting herself against a great post in our league. Kaitlyn and Alyssa played like the veterans they are. On the road against good teams, your veterans have to play well, and I'm proud of their efforts tonight."

LAST MATCHUP: BHSU vs. FLC (Dec. 4, 2021)
Black Hills State women's basketball took on Fort Lewis College in the Donald E Young Center Saturday afternoon defeating the Skyhawks 66-38.

Danica Kocer recorded three steals and three assists on the night while Haylee Weathersby also snagged three steals.

The Yellow Jackets came out hot in the first quarter making 5 of 8 three-point shots to take an early lead over the Skyhawks. Ashlee Beacom led the charge connecting on three 3-pointer before the five-minute mark. The Yellow Jackets rode that momentum through the rest of the quarter taking a two-point lead into the second quarter, 15-13.

The Skyhawks and Yellow Jackets stayed evenly matched through the second quarter of play with Fort Lewis tallying 11 points and BHSU tallying 14. Neither team garnered an edge throughout the second quarter, but the Yellow Jackets would carry a small lead into the break 29-24 over the Skyhawks.

The third quarter made all the difference for the Yellow Jacket offense as they would tally 24 points throughout the quarter. As the offense heated up the defense stood strong holding the Skyhawks to five points. The Yellow Jackets shot 56.3% from the field in the third quarter compared to 8.3% by the Skyhawks. Sharp shooting would give BHSU a 24-point lead at 53-29 to end the quarter.

The fourth quarter brought a cool down for the Yellow Jackets offense, but the defense stayed hot holding FLC to nine points in the quarter. The Yellow Jackets would tally 13 more points in route to their 66-38 victory.

As a team the Yellow Jackets had a 45.1 shooting percentage making 23 of 51 shots from the field. From beyond the arc BHSU shot 53.8% making 14 of 26 shots from beyond the arc.

At the charity stripe the Yellow Jackets made 6 of 12 shots for a 50.0% shooting percentage.

Coaches
In his 21st season as head coach of the Yellow Jackets, Mark Nore is the winningest coach in BHSU Athletics history for the women's basketball program with an overall record of 359-224.
 
Following a season as interim coach at Adams State, Mario Caetano was promoted to the helm of their women's program in July of 2022. Prior to serving at Adams State, Caetano served as a coach for club programs such as the Vegas Elite Basketball Club, as well as Northern New Mexico College as a men's associate head coach and a women's head coach.
 
Taylor Harris is currently serving his second season at Fort Lewis, with the young coach out of Denver, Colorado having ties with Miles Community College, Regis, and MSU Denver. At Miles, Harris led his team to a Region XIII Championship on a 24-2 record, which also earned them a trip to the Sweet 16 at the NJCAA DI National Tournament.