The Black Hills State University women's basketball squad (12-3, 7-2 RMAC) hits the road this weekend for another pair of RMAC matchups against New Mexico Highlands and CSU Pueblo. The ladies will stop for a 5 p.m. tipoff against the Cowgirls on Friday, Jan. 20 before heading to Pueblo, Colorado for a matchup with the Thunderwolves at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 21.
FRIDAY VS. NEW MEXICO HIGHLANDS
Since their matchup with BHSU on Dec. 16, the Yellow Jackets have won three of their last four matchups while the Cowgirls have only won three of their last seven, including a pair of wins last weekend over CSUP and Western Colorado.
The Cowgirl squad is a middle-of-the-pack team on offense and in point margin in the RMAC but still uphold one of the top defenses in the conference, holding opponents to 60.8 points per bout. Juliana Aragon, the leading scorer for NMHU and the RMAC's week nine Offensive Player of the Week, had a monster weekend after piling on 45-points over two games, inlcuding a 28-point game against CSUP last Friday night.
COWGIRLS' LAST TIMEOUT
LAS VEGAS, N.M. - The Wilson Complex played host to more competitive RMAC basketball on Saturday night, with the Cowgirl's squad holding a thrilling matchup against the Western Colorado Mountaineers. In a last-minute push from NMHU, the Cowgirls claimed a 54-49 victory that included an explosive 20-point quarter from NMHU.
Juliana Aragon once again led the charge as she dropped 17-points against the Mountaineers, shooting 6-of-11 from the floor and 1-of-three from beyond the arc. She was also an 80 percent shooter from the charity stripe.
Overall, the Cowgirls made 32.7 percent of their 55 shot attempts including 7-of-25 threes and 11-of-14 from the free throw line.
The tight, competitive tone was set early with a first quarter that saw two lead changes: NMHU started the game 5-3, leading by as much as five points until a 7-2 run saw WCU take a 13-10 lead heading into the second frame.
The second quarter saw another thrice of tying scores, but Western Colorado maintained the advantage through the second quarter. The scoreboard read a close 25-24 Mountaineer lead at the halftime buzzer.
Western Colorado went on to dominate the third quarter, outscoring the Cowgirls 16-10 in the frame. NMHU was held to just 20 percent marks in total field goals and three point shots in the third, but the offense of NMHU lit up in the fourth.
Following a jumper from WCU to start the quarter, a jumper and free throw from Munguia slimmed the Mountaineer lead to just seven points. Solid shooting from beyond the arch and at the free throw line allowed for NMHU to later tie the game at 49-all with 1:28 remaining in the contest.
An Aragon layup with 69-seconds to go gave NMHU a 51-49 lead. The Mountaineers, who missed on three shots from downtown down the stretch, commited two fouls that led to Cowgirl free throw points that extended their lead to 54-49. The game ended on a missed three pointer from WCU at the buzzer as NMHU's ladies improved to 5-7 in the RMAC and 10-8 on the season.
LAST MATCHUP: BHSU vs NMHU (Dec. 16, 2022)
Black Hills State women's basketball picked up their ninth win over New Mexico Highlands on Friday night, defeating the Cowgirls 57-48.
After both teams opened the game with missed three-point shots, the Cowgirls grabbed the contest's first points on a mid-range jumper.
Megan Engesser went down the court on the next possession and drained the first three-point shot for BHSU to give the Yellow Jackets their first lead of the game.
Following another Engesser three, NMHU climbed back to a 7-6 lead with both teams exchanging scores until back-to-back threes from Van Wyk helped end the quarter with a 15-13 BHSU lead.
Engesser began the second quarter with another three, but both teams went cold until the Cowgirls put away a layup to bring the score to 18-15 with BHSU in front. The Yellow Jackets then went on an 8-0 run to take a 26-17 lead with 3:01 to go in the half. The final 70-seconds of the half ended with a 5-5 run, with BHSU holding the lead at 31-22.
Out of the locker room both teams remained even in scoring until a five-point burst helped the Cowgirls get within 10 of BHSU at a 39-30 scoreboard, but a jumper from
Kalla Bertram kept BHSU ahead by 11.
Haylee Weathersby knocked down a layup to give the Yellow Jackets the 13-point gap at the 29-second mark in the third.
Heading into the fourth quarter with a 43-32 lead, scores from a Weathersby layup and a Van Wyk three set the Yellow Jackets up with a 16-point lead inside of the first couple of minutes. The Yellow Jackets cooled down, however, missing multiple shots to give the Cowgirls a chance to rack up a ten-point rally to be back within a single-digit deficit.
Out of the BHSU timeout forced by the rally, both teams knocked down three-pointers to bring the score to 51-45 with 2:16 to go in the game. Both teams continued to duke it out down the wire, but an NMHU foul drawn by
Ellie Moore inside 50 seconds gave BHSU enough time to set up a
Summer Fox layup that proved to be enough to secure the Yellow Jacket victory.
A FRIDAY BHSU WIN WOULD...
Keep BHSU in the hunt for the second seed in the RMAC with Regis, who is 8-2 in conference play and on a seven-game streak.
A FRIDAY BHSU LOSS WOULD...
Send BHSU to the fourth seed, allowing for Adams State to take the third spot in the RMAC.
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SATURDAY VS. CSU PUEBLO
The Thunderwolves have had a rough start to the new year as they've fallen in three of their last four matchups. Last Saturday, however, the Thunderwolves were able to turn it around with a slim 61-56 home victory against Western Colorado.
The Thunderwolves currently hold the top spot in the RMAC in three-pointers made per game (9.6), are second in opponent three-point percentage (28.3 percent), and third in overall three-point percentage (33.9 percent), marks they will need for their first matchup against BHSU since last season's RMAC quarterfinals, which ended with CSUP defeating the Yellow Jackets, 59-52, in Pueblo.
THUNDERWOLVES' LAST TIMEOUT
PUEBLO, Colo. - Colorado State University Pueblo women's basketball made 10 three-pointers, including a trey with 1:59 left in the game from sophomore guard Tomia Johnson to help lead the ThunderWolves to a 61-56 comeback victory over Western Colorado in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference action here Saturday evening at Massari Arena.
With the win, CSU Pueblo snapped a four-game losing skid and moved its record to 9-8 overall and 6-5 in the RMAC. The victory was the first for the ThunderWolves in the 2023 calendar year as they had opened the New Year losing its first three games.
Johnson's trey with 1:59 tied the game 55 and that helped jump start a 9-1 run by the ThunderWolves to close out the game and collect its first victory since earning 67-66 home win over Colorado Mesa on Dec. 30. CSU Pueblo is now 7-2 at home this season, including being 4-1 at home in RMAC play.
LAST MATCHUP: BHSU vs CSUP (March 1, 2022)
PUEBLO, Colo. - Black Hills State women's basketball fell to CSU Pueblo 59-52 Tuesday night in the first round of the RMAC Tournament.
Both the Yellow Jackets and the Thunderwolves were slow to start offensively, with the game remaining scoreless until the 8:06 mark when a Danica Kocer layup gave BHSU its first lead of the night, but a quick three from CSUP made the lead short lived. The Thunderwolves increased their lead to five before BHSU got back on the board with a pair of free throws. BHSU laid on the gas for an 11-0 run to close out the first quarter up 13-7 over CSUP.
The two teams stayed competitive throughout the second quarter until CSU Pueblo went on a 5-0 run at the 5:49 mark, cutting the Yellow Jacket lead to one. BHSU stayed tough through the final minutes of the half taking a 24-21 lead into the locker room.
Out of the half, BHSU would open its largest lead of the night after taking an eight-point lead over the Thunderwolves with 7:44 in the third. CSUP tied things up at 35 with just over five minutes to play. BHSU took back a 44-40 lead as the game went into the final frame.
At the 5:58 mark in the fourth quarter, CSUP tied things up on a 3-pointer and later taking their first lead of the night, which they held for the rest of the game. CSUP outscored BHSU 11-4 in the fourth to take the 59-52 victory in the first round of the RMAC tournament.
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 362-225.
In his third season at the helm for NMHU, Garrett Sherman brings a diversity of college coaching experience from NCAA DI to Junior College. He helped the University of Maine earn an American East Conference Regular season and tournament championship as well as an NCAA tournament appearance.
CSUP women's head coach Tommie Johnson enters his fourth season at the helm of the Thunderwolves, where he spent eight years as the men's basketball assistant coach and is coming off a season where he led CSUP to another RMAC Championship appearance.
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-BHSUAthletics.com-
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