SPEARFISH, S.D.- The Yellow Jackets are on the way home after a 1-1 road trip, where they had a very strong bounce back against Fort Lewis on Saturday. The RMAC leaders will now come back to A2 Arena to face the team ranked just behind them in the standings and rankings in Colorado Mesa. The game will be held Thursday, January 23rd at 5 PM in A2 Arena 

GAME DETAILS
Date & Time: January 23rd at 5 PM
Location: Spearfish, S.D.- A2 Arena 

BLACK HILLS STATE STORYLINES
•    Black Hills State enters this game versus Colorado Mesa ranked #1 in the RMAC. They currently sit at 11-4 (7-1 RMAC). As stated earlier, they are coming off a 61-43 win over Fort Lewis, where they had a 24-7 run from the end of the first quarter to near the end of the second. The Yellow Jackets were hitting their threes Saturday going 6-16 in the final three quarters of the game. They were able to outperform Fort Lewis in every metric. 
•    The 43 points that Black Hills State allowed to Fort Lewis was the lowest number of points allowed by the Yellow Jackets defense all year. They held Fort Lewis to 17-60 from the field and 1-18 from three which works out to a 28 percent clip. This passed UC Colorado Springs, where they held the Mountain Lions to 44 points. The 26 rebounds that BHSU held Fort Lewis to is tied for third lowest so far this season, while the 50 rebounds that the BHSU had was the most they've had al season. 
•    Black Hills State is the highest ranked of four RMAC schools in D2CSC South Central Regional Media Poll, appearing for the ninth consecutive week as they jumped one spot to No. 4 on Monday morning. This marks their highest rank of the season. They also received four votes for the D2CSC Top 25 Poll. 
•    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 leading in the conference standings after seven wins in their first eight games to begin RMAC schedule and are the only team in the RMAC with only one loss.
•    The 11-4 start to the season is the best for the Yellow Jackets since they started 12-3 in the 2022-23 season. The 7-1 start to RMAC play is the best start to a season since 2015-2016, where we went 7-1 as well. 
•    Through the first 14 games of the season BHSU is averaging 67.0 points, 37.8 rebounds, 13.7 assists, 6.3 steals, and 1.9 blocks per game, while shooting the ball 43.9 percent from the field, 29.5 percent from 3-point range, and 71.0 percent from the free throw line. Their opponents are averaging 59.5 points, 29.7 rebounds, 9.6 assists, 6.5 steals, and 2.4 blocks per game, while shooting the ball 38.6 percent from the field, 36.8 percent from 3-point range, and 76.3 percent from the free throw line.
•    The Yellow Jackets currently rank 17th in NCAA Division II in fewest turnovers per game (13.1), seventh in fewest fouls per game (13.4), and 22nd in rebound margin (8.1). In Saturday's win, Black Hills State had 18 turnovers, which was tied for the most since they had 23 in the opener versus West Texas A&M. They also had 15 personal fouls. The Yellow Jackets had 50 rebounds, the most this year and allowed 26, tied for the third least this year. That 24 turnover margin was by far the largest of the year passing the 19-rebound margin versus Colorado Christian. 
•    Leading four players in double figures scoring for Black Hills State is Haylee Weathersby is first on the team and 11th in the conference in scoring with 14.2 points and adds 6.2 rebounds per game. She currently ranks second in the RMAC in field goal percentage and 14th in the country, knocking down 85-of-147 (57.8%) 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 15 games this year in addition to grabbing five or more boards in 12 contests. She is coming off a quiet six-point night versus Fort Lewis, where she only took four shots, but went 3-4.  
•    Kalla Bertram who is one of the top scorers and rebounders in the conference, ranking eighth in points per game (14.1) and 11th in rebounds per game (7.1). Additionally, Bertram adds 1.7 steals per game and 2.1 assists per game. She has been efficient shooting the ball as she ranks fourth in the RMAC in field goal percentage, knocking down 79-of-170 shot attempts (46.5%), and has scored in double figures in 12 of the 15 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 seventh as she has knocked down 42-of-53 (79.2%) 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 very quiet two-point performance against Fort Lewis, where she went 0-8 from the field and 2-2 from the free throw line. 
•    Morgan Hammerbeck is another player to keep an eye on. She is averaging 12.2 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 2.1 assists. She is shooting the ball 44.4 percent from the field, 34.6 percent on 3-pointers, and 80.0 percent of free throws. She currently ranks seventh in the RMAC in total 3-pointers made (27) and is sixth in 3-pointers per game (1.86). Despite going 3-13 from behind the arc this weekend, Hammerbeck took the ball inside Saturday making eight of her nine field goals from inside the three-point line. She finished with 22, which was her second highest scoring game of the season, and six rebounds, which is tied for the most in a game this season for her.   
•    The lone freshman in the starting lineup for each of the first 15 games this year has been Bradie Schlabs, who recently joined the double-digit points per game club averaging 11.0 points, 6.7 rebounds, 4.7 assists, and 1.7 steals per game. She has scored in double figures in ten games, including a season-high of 21 points versus MSU Denver. She has now had six straight games with double-digits and five straight with 13 or more points. She has secured four or more boards on 13 occasions, including all the last 11 games. Schlabs has dished out four or more assists in 12 games, seven of the last eight, and has tallied a steal in 11 of 13 games this year. She ranks third in the RMAC in assists (71), assists per game (4.7), and assist/turnover ratio (1.82), while also ranking 45th, 27th, and 41st nationally in NCAA Division II in the respective categories. Schlabs is coming off a 14-point, 11 rebound double-double, which is her third double-double of the season and third of her career. 
•    Yellow Jacket alumna Rachel Erickson is in her first season as the head coach at Black Hills State, guiding BHSU to a 11-4 record thus far.

COLORADO MESA STORYLINES:
•    Colorado Mesa enters this game one game back of the Yellow Jackets for the top spot in the RMAC. Mesa is currently sitting at a 11-4 (6-2 RMAC) record and are tied with Western Colorado and CSU Pueblo for second in the conference. They are coming off a weekend where they had a crucial road win versus Western Colorado. They finished off the weekend sweep with a 39-point home win over Westminster 88-49. The Mavericks have now won four in a row. 
•    Colorado Mesa's head coach Taylor Wagner is in the midst of his 13th season as head coach of the Mavericks with an all-time record of 280-87 and an all-time road record of 99-51. 
•    The Mavericks are 3-1 on the road this season with an average of 67.3 points per game, 36 rebounds per game, 12.3 assists, and nine turnovers per game. Most of these numbers are drastically lower than their home performances. CMU ranks first in the country in assist/turnover ratio (1.55), second in the country in turnovers per game (11.7), seventh in assists per game (18.1), 12th in free throw percentage (78.8), and 23rd in fouls per game (14.3). They also rank first in the RMAC in field goal percentage (44.3), scoring margin (13.6), and scoring offense (72.3)
•    Olivia Reed Thyne is the top player for the Mavericks. She leads the team and is fifth in the nation with 22.6 points per game, she is also fifth in field goals (140), fifth in double-doubles (10), tenth in field goal percentage (59.8). On the defensive side, she is third in the country in defensive rebounds per game (8.5) and rebounds per game (11.9). She has made it to double-digit points in every game this year and has made it to 20 in seven of them, including five of the last six. She has also made it to ten rebounds in all but five games this year, including seven of the last nine. Her high for points is 45 (Pittsburgh State) and her high for rebounds is 18 (Northwest Missouri State). She is coming off a 16-point, seven rebound performance versus Westminster, where she only played 27 minutes. 
•    Riley Hayes is the second leading scorer for the Colorado Mesa, averaging 14.2 points per game. She is the three point shooter for the Mavericks, leading the country in three pointers per game (3.4), while leading the RMAC in three-point attempts (139) and three-point percentage (36.7). Hayes has made a three pointer in every game this year and is coming off a 28-point performance versus the Griffins, where she went 6-14 from behind the arc. 
•    Kylie Kravig is the third player in double-figures for the Mavericks. She averages 10.7 points per game. She is the playmaker of the trio, Kravig is fourth in the nation in assists per game (7.0), fifth in total assists (105), and 15th in assist/turnover ratio (2.28). Kravig has slowed down from the field recently, only hitting ten points in two of her last six game, but she has become a weapon with her passing, hitting eight assists or more nine times this season, including four of the last five games. She is coming of a seven-point, nine assists performance versus Westminster. 

SERIES HISTORY
•    Black Hills State is 8-14 versus the Mavericks in their RMAC history. With most of those losses coming in the early days of BHSU's time at D2. They have split the season series each of the last three years with both teams winning their home games. 
•    The Yellow Jackets split the two games versus Mesa last year, winning the game at A2 Arena last season 59-45, before losing in Grand Junction by two points. BHSU has not lost to Mesa at home since losing 65-64 on January 4th, 2020.