BISMARCK, N.D. - Black Hills State women's basketball is set to debut the 2023-24 season on Tuesday, Nov. 14 against the UMary Marauders, with tipoff taking place at 5 p.m. MST from the McDowell Activity Center in Bismarck, North Dakota.
 
The Yellow Jackets come into the season off a campaign that saw the BHSU ladies finish with an incredible 23-8 overall record and a 17-5 RMAC record that allowed them to finish third in the conference. Coach Mark Nore, BHSU's all-time wins leader in BHSU WBB history, completed his 21st season as head coach of the Yellow Jackets with a 373-230 record.
 
The 2022-23 post-season marked the ninth time in 10 years that the Yellow Jackets made an appearance in the RMAC post-season tournament. Their NCAA DII tournament appearance was also their fourth time entering the tournament since becoming DII eligible in 2013.
 
Heading into this year with the No. 5 spot on the RMAC Preseason Polls, the Yellow Jackets are returning 12 players to the hardwood from the previous season and have added four new ladies to the Yellow Jacket squad.
 
2022-23 HIGHLIGHTS
The Yellow Jacket women's basketball team completed their season with an incredible 23-8 overall record and were third in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference with a 17-5 record. Coach Mark Nore, BHSU's all-time wins leader in BHSU history, completed his 21st season as head coach of the Yellow Jackets with a 373-230 record.

After being named to the NCAA Divisional II women's basketball tournament as the sixth seed, the BHSU ladies took on the No. 3 Regis University. In a dramatic upset, the Yellow Jackets took the RMAC Conference Champion Rangers to an extra frame of basketball and came out victorious, 61-57. In their next game against Lubbock Christian, however, BHSU fell swinging to the Lady Chaps in a 66-50 loss to end the season. 
 
In the 2022-23 season, seven athletes donned RMAC All-Academic status including an RMAC All-Academic Player of the Year (Danica Kocer), an additional All-Academic First Team Player (Megan Engesser), and five RMAC All-Academic Honor Roll students (Kalla Bertram, Summer Fox, Morgan Hammerbeck, Kammie Ragsdale, and Tyler Whitlock).
 
WBB saw Danica Kocer named to the CSC Academic All-District team while three Yellow Jackets were named to All-Conference status including Kocer, Niki Van Wyk (both named to First Team), and Ellie Moore (All-Conference Honorable Mention).
 
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Returners Ellie Moore, Kalla Bertram, and Morgan Hammerbeck were all listed as 2023-24 players to watch on the year in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference.
 
Kalla Bertram, a five-foot-nine point guard, stepped up in her production last season as she played in five more games and started in 10 games over her first playing year in 2021-22. She averaged 22.7 mpg last season, 4.6 ppg, 4.1 apg, and 1.45 spg, which ranked her 18th in the RMAC in 2022-23. Bertram also finished the season as an effective field shooter with a 43.6 percent clip. 
 
Joining the Yellow Jackets as a transfer from UC-Colorado Springs in 2022, six-foot-forward Ellie Moore solidified a hardy Yellow Jacket defense with 37 total blocks, averaging 1.2 bpg, and was fourth in the conference and an All-Conference Honorable Mention nod for her defensive contributions. Moore also served as an effective player in the paint and around the post as she posted 44.8 percent of her baskets last season and averaged 6.7 ppg.

Morgan Hammerbeck, who will enter her fourth year as a Yellow Jacket, will serve as another piece of the leadership foundation on the women's team this year. Hammerbeck has incrementally seen improvement in the previous two seasons as shes started in 45 of 59 total games she has played in since 2021. Last year, Hammerbeck started in all but six games and averaged 24.6 minutes in each bout, accounting for 6.2 ppg, on 30.7 percent three-point shooting and 38.5 percent from the floor.
 
TUESDAY vs. UMARY
The UMary Marauders (2-3, 0-0 NSIC), five games into their 2023-24 slate, were picked to finish third overall in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) Preseason Coaches' Poll, which was well justified by the Marauders with their first win on the year against the No. 19 Angelo State on Nov. 3, where they defeated the Rams 81-67.
 
Dropping three of their last four, however, the Marauders are looking to get back on track as they return to their home court for the first time this season to host BHSU, then Northern State on Nov. 21.

A BHSU WIN WOULD...
Lift the Yellow Jackets to 1-0, which would mark the first consecutive 1-0 starts since the 2018-19 and 2019-20 seasons.
 
A BHSU LOSS WOULD...
Drop the Yellow Jackets to 0-1 on the season and 1-7 overall against UMary.

YELLOW JACKETS' LAST TIMEOUT
SAN ANGELO, Texas - Black Hills State women's basketball kicked off round two of the NCAA DII Regional women's bracket against the No. 7 Lubbock Christian University, with BHSU falling to a tough LCU offense, 66-50.
 
Danica Kocer and Kalla Bertram pointed the spearhead of the Yellow Jacket offense against LCU with 14 and 13 points, respectively.
 
Bertram recorded 4-of-6 shooting on the day and 5-of-7 from the charity stripe. She also finished with three defensive rebounds, a steal, and an assist.
 
LCU jumped out to an early 10-2 in the first frame, holding BHSU to an eight-point deficit through much of the quarter. An Engesser three-pointer brought the Yellow Jackets within five, but another LCU trey and freebie at the 2:11 mark kept the Chaps up by seven. Bertram, however, received a trip to the free throw line in the final minute of the frame and closed the gap to a 16-11 deficit.
 
Quick threes from the Chaps stretched the LCU lead to 22-11 to start the second as they kept BHSU at bay with more long-ball jumpers to lead by 13 at the 7:07 mark. Down the stretch, a layup from Hammerbeck and a pair of free throws from Kocer and Van Wyk sent the Yellow Jackets to the locker room down 33-21 at the end of the first half.
 
Following a jumper and a layup from Van Wyk and Kocer, a quick five-point burst from the Chaps stretched their lead to 40-25 as the clock hit the 6:23 mark in the third quarter. Both teams went cold for nearly two minutes until a one-of-two free throw trip from LCU broke the silence.
 
Back-and-forth scoring proceeded down the stretch, but the Yellow Jackets ended the quarter with a six-point series to send the 47-34 scoreboard to the fourth quarter.
 
Van Wyk began to heat up in the fourth as she locked in the first four points for the Yellow Jackets, but LCU continued to keep up the pressure with four of their own to keep the game from moving. Two three-point shots from Kocer brought the score to 58-46 but another six-point burst from LCU at the 2:45 mark effectively ended the game.
 
Bertram laid in another two-point bucket and Engesser knocked down the final points of the game from the charity stripe. 
 
MARAUDERS' LAST TIMEOUT
TAHLEQUAH, OK – Another impressive performance by Lexie Schneider wasn't enough for the University of Mary women's basketball team in a 74-66 loss at Northeastern State University in the final game of the Central Region Classic.
 
After taking an 8-3 lead, an early shooting slump by the Marauders allowed the Riverhawks to slowly take control. With just under nine minutes to play in the game, NSU had its largest lead of the night at 10 points.
 
Refusing to fade, Megan Zander splashed a 3 to cap a 15-4 UMary run for a 61-60 Marauders lead with over three minutes to play. The Riverhawks immediately responded with five straight points. A Mariah McKeever trey pulled UMary within 65-64 with 1:26 on the clock but a trey and four straight free throws by the home team dashed the Marauders hopes for a weekend sweep.
 
MATCHUP HISTORY
Tuesday night's duel between BHSU and UMary will mark the seventh time both teams have faced off on the hardwood. Though UMary owns a 6-1 record over BHSU, the Yellow Jackets defeated the Marauders last season in Spearfish.
 
LAST MATCHUP: BHSU vs. UMARY (Nov. 16, 2022)
Black Hills State women's basketball secured their second victory of the season on Wednesday night, defeating the UMary Marauders 77-67.
 
The Yellow Jackets shot 36.3 percent from the field, including a 41.2 percent clip from beyond the arch. As a unit, BHSU also recorded their first six blocks on the season against UMary.
 
Danica Kocer led in scoring against the Marauders, knocking down five of twelve shots, a pair of three-pointers, and six good shots from the charity stripe. The senior guard also pulled in five defensive rebounds and six steals on the night.
 
Ellie Moore and Morgan Hammerbeck each made five out of nine field goals on the night, including a 50 percent mark for Hammerbeck from three. Moore and Hammerbeck also combined for three blocks and six more steals for the Yellow Jackets.
 
Niki Van Wyk also had a great game against UMary as she made 44 percent of her shots and 50% from long-range, holding a tie for the block lead with a pair of blocks on her stat line.
 
The contest's first points came from a single free throw made by UMary with 7:38 to go in the first quarter. A Kocer three-point shot kickstarted the Yellow Jacket offense as they went on to take an 8-3 lead. Aided by plays in the paint and four free throws from Moore, the Yellow Jackets took a 22-11 lead at the end of quarter one.
 
The Marauders drained a three to start the second quarter, but the Yellow Jackets knocked down a jumper and a three-point shot to take the lead by 14. Most of the scoring down the stretch came courtesy of the charity stripe, but the quarter ended on a Marauder long ball and a Kalla Bertram jumper to give the Yellow Jackets a 10-point advantage heading into the locker room.
 
Out of the halftime intermission, BHSU held up their lead as each team exchanged scoring plays to start. The Yellow Jackets maintained the pressure as they held a point margin of seven or better, looking at a 57-46 lead heading into the final quarter.
 
Down the stretch in the fourth, which saw a combined 16 fouls, UMary closed the gap to 70-65 on a four-point play with 37 seconds left in the game. After a missed BHSU free throw later on, Moore would get fouled on the rebound and put up another two freebies that all but guaranteed the Yellow Jacket win.
 
Van Wyk scored the last basket for the Yellow Jackets with a three-point shot with 14 seconds left as UMary hit one last jumper before the horn sounded.

COACHES
In his 22nd season as head coach of the Yellow Jackets, Mark Nore led BHSU to their sixth RMAC tournament appearance in a row, with their NCAA tournament appearance last season marking the third time the BHSU ladies have competed in the tournament since their DII integration in 2013.
 
Rick Neumann enters his 12th season as the Head Women's Basketball Coach of the UMary Marauders after taking over the helm in 2012. Last season, Neumann led his team to a 14-13 (12-10 NSIC) finish and a 1-1 appearance in the NSIC Championship tournament.