SPEARFISH, S.D.- The Yellow Jackets are coming off their first loss in RMAC play this season and now will head north from Las Vegas, New Mexico to Durango, Colorado to face the Fort Lewis Skyhawks Saturday afternoon at 1 PM in the Whalen Gymnasium. The Yellow Jackets are looking to avenge a loss Thursday night versus New Mexico Highlands 77-63. 

GAME DETAILS
Date & Time: Saturday, January 18th at 1 PM
Location: Durango, Colorado – Whalen Gymnasium

BLACK HILLS STATE STORYLINES
•    Black Hills State enters this game versus Fort Lewis still one of the top teams in the RMAC despite the loss. They currently sit at 10-4 (6-1 RMAC) and are still tied for first thanks to Colorado School of Mines upsetting CSU Pueblo Thursday. As stated earlier, they are coming off an 77-63 upset loss to New Mexico Highlands where they had an 11-point lead midway through the third quarter. It was the first loss to NMHU in BHSU's history. The Jackets fell victim to the Cowgirls full court press in the third resulting in being on the wrong side of a 27-6 run that saw Black Hills fall down by nine late in the third. It was a deficit BHSU could never recover from. 
•    Black Hills State had their worst three-point shooting performance of the season yesterday going 2-15 with both threes coming early in the first quarter. They did not make a single three-pointer in the final 34:29 of the game, going 0-13 the rest of the way. Black Hills State actually won the field goal percentage battle 46.8 percent to 44.8 percent, but the key was the turnovers. Black Hills State struggled to break the press in the third quarter, which caused them to commit eight turnovers, almost the amount they had in the entire first half combined (9). For reference BHSU, was eighthth in the country in turnovers with 12.4 a game.
•    The 28 points Black Hills State allowed to Kapiolani Anitielu was the most points BHSU has allowed to a singular player all season. Most of those points came off turnovers, where BHSU allowed 18 points off turnovers, and second chance buckets (12), which was another area where BHSU struggled. The fast break points were the worst for BHSU. NMHU had 21 points off fast break compared to the Yellow Jackets five. 
•    Black Hills State is the second highest ranked of four RMAC schools in D2CSC South Central Regional Media Poll, appearing for the eighth consecutive week as they jump one spots to No. 5 on Monday morning. This matches their highest rank of the season. 
•    Black Hills State had been picked to finish ninth in the RMAC Preseason Coaches' Poll, receiving 94 points in the vote among head coaches. They are currently tied for first in the conference standings after six consecutive wins to begin RMAC schedule and are one of only two remaining undefeated teams in league play.
•    The 10-4 start to the season is the best for the Yellow Jackets since they started 11-3 in the 2022-23 season. The 6-1 start to RMAC play is the best start to a season since 2015-2016, where we went 6-1 as well. 
•    Through the first 14 games of the season BHSU is averaging 67.4 points, 36.9 rebounds, 13.5 assists, 6.5 steals, and 2.0 blocks per game, while shooting the ball 44.0 percent from the field, 29.6 percent from 3-point range, and 71.4 percent from the free throw line. Their opponents are averaging 60.6 points, 30.0 rebounds, 9.8 assists, 6.3 steals, and 2.5 blocks per game, while shooting the ball 39.4 percent from the field, 39.0 percent from 3-point range, and 75.6 percent from the free throw line.
•    The Yellow Jackets currently rank eighth in NCAA Division II in fewest turnovers per game (12.8), sixth in fewest fouls per game (13.3), 25th in assist/turnover ratio (1.10), and 26th in rebound margin (6.9). In Friday night's loss, Black Hills State had 18 turnovers, which was the most since they had 23 in the opener versus West Texas A&M. They also had 17 personal fouls, which was the most since they had 17 versus Chadron State. The Yellow Jackets only had 28 rebounds, which was their second fewest this year only behind South Dakoata School of Mines, when they had 24. 
•    Leading four players in double figures scoring for Black Hills State is Kalla Bertram who is one of the top scorers and rebounders in the conference, ranking eighth in points per game (14.9) and ninth in rebounds per game (7.2). Additionally, her 1.9 steals per game rank tenth in the league while she adds 1.9 assists per game. She has been efficient shooting the ball as she ranks third in the RMAC in field goal percentage, knocking down 79-of-162 shot attempts (48.8%), and has scored in double figures in 12 of the 14 games this year. She has notched a pair of double doubles this season against Lubbock Christian (17 points, 11 rebounds) and Chadron State (19 points, 11 rebounds). She is also among the league leaders in free throw percentage, ranking 12th as she has knocked down 40-of-51 (78.4%) at the charity stripe. She has reached her season-high mark in steals on three different occasions and has recorded multiple steals in seven games. Bertram is coming off a 16-point performance against New Mexico Highlands, which marked her ninth time reaching 16 or more this year.
•    Haylee Weathersby is second on the team and tenth in the conference in scoring with 14.8 points and adds 6.3 rebounds per game. She currently ranks second in the RMAC in field goal percentage and 17th in the country, knocking down 82-of-143 (57.3%) shot attempts this year, and is sixth in free throw percentage as she is also shooting 43-of-55 (78.2%) from the charity stripe. She has reached double figures and has scored 12 or more points in ten of 14 games this year in addition to grabbing five or more boards in 11 contests. She dropped 19 versus NMHU in her second highest scoring output of the year and had seven rebounds to go with it. 
•    Morgan Hammerbeck is another player to keep an eye on. She is averaging 11.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 2.1 assists. She is shooting the ball 42.3 percent from the field, 35.6 percent on 3-pointers, and 80.6 percent of free throws. She currently ranks sixth in the RMAC in total 3-pointers made (26) and is seventh in 3-pointers per game (1.86). Hammerbeck has cooled off from behind the arc, but after a great scoring weekend last weekend, she only dropped eight points versus the Cowgirls. She made both of BHSU's two threes in the game early in the first, before missing her next six from behind the arc. She went 3-9 from the field and failed to make it to the foul line.  
•    The lone freshman in the starting lineup for each of the first 13 games this year has been Bradie Schlabs, who recently joined the double-digit points per game club averaging 10.8 points, 6.4 rebounds, 4.9 assists, and 1.3 steals per game. She has scored in double figures in nine games, including a season-high of 21 points Saturday versus MSU Denver, where she had her second double-double of the year going 21-10. She has now had five straight games with double-digits and four straight with 13 or more points. She has secured four or more boards on 12 occasions, including all the last ten games. Schlabs has dished out four or more assists in 12 games, seven in a row, and has tallied a steal in ten of 12 games this year. She ranks third in the RMAC in assists (69), assists per game (4.9), and second in assist/turnover ratio (1.92), while also ranking 46th, 25th, and 26th nationally in NCAA Division II in the respective categories. NCAA Division II in the respective categories. Schlabs is coming off a 16-point, seven rebound, six assist effort, which is her fourth out of the last five where she has put up ten or more points, five or more rebounds, and five or more assists.
•    Yellow Jacket alumna Rachel Erickson is in her first season as the head coach at Black Hills State, guiding BHSU to a 10-4 record thus far.

FORT LEWIS STORYLINES
•    Fort Lewis continues their first homestand of the 2025 calendar year. The Skyhawks come into this game 5-10 (2-5 RMAC) following an 88-74 loss to South Dakota School of Mines yesterday. Fort Lewis has now lost two of their last three games. 
•    Fort Lewis's Head Coach Lauren Zuniga is in the midst of her first season as Head Coach of the Skyhawks after being at the NJCAA level the previous three years. Zuniga is 5-10 in her career as head coach of the Skyhawks and is 55-48 all time with both Fort Lewis and Northwestern College. 
•    The Skyhawks are 3-5 at home in Whalen Gymnasium this year and have been outscored 528-484 in those games. A lot of that difference comes from the second half, where Fort Lewis has been outscored 288-236. They have averaged 60.5 points per game, 11.8 assists, 33.1, 18.9 turnovers, and only have a 39.3 shooting percentage. 
•    Fort Lewis is one of the better turnovers producing teams in the country. They are ranked 76th in the country and 3rd in the RMAC with 19.1 turnovers forced per game. They also average 18.7 points of those turnovers. 
•    Deniece Ryan is the leading scorer for Fort Lewis. The 5-2 guard averages 10.5 points per game on 46.5 percent from the field. She has reached 14 points in seven of her last nine games and is coming off her best performance of the season versus SDM with 18 points on nine of 17 from the field. 
•    Darla Hernandez, a 5-10 forward, is second on the team in scoring with 10.4 points per game and is the only player on Fort Lewis that averages over four rebounds a game, she averages 7.9. She also shoots 38.3% from the field and 85.7 percent from the free throw line. She currently sits at five double doubles on the season with her most recent coming on December 20th versus Northern New Mexico. She is coming off a 13-point, five rebound game versus Mines, and has now hit double figures in four of her last five. 
•    Livia Knapp is the other threat on the Skyhawk offense. The 5-5 Senior Guard is averaging 9.3 points per game, 3.3 assists per game, and leads the team in three-point percentage shooting 36 percent from behind the arc. She also shoots 40.1 percent from the field. She is coming off her second-best scoring outing of the year, dropping 16 versus SDM and three assists. It was her third game in the last four games with over 13 points, and her fifth straight with three or more assists. 

SERIES HISTORY
•    Black Hills State has won the last 15 matchups versus the Skyhawks and is 15-1 all time. The last time BHSU lost to Fort Lewis was January 5th, 2013, when Fort Lewis won 80-71.
•    BHSU swept the season series last year, but the first matchup in A2 Arena went to overtime, where BHSU won 77-74. They then dominated the second matchup 87-53 in Durango with Kalla Bertram having 13 points and seven rebounds.