Date/Time/Location: Sunday, November 16 / 1 p.m. / Spearfish, S.D. / A2 Arena

Tickets: Tickets can be purchased online at the link above.

Promotions: It's Canned Food Weekend at BHSU. Bring three cans of food and you can get a free general admission ticket to the Women's Basketball game.

RMAC Network: Beginning in the 2025-26 season the RMAC Network will now move to Pay-Per-View. Fans can purchase a single game pass ($10), monthly ($25) or annual subscription ($130). Individuals with bhsu.edu or yellowjackets.bhsu.edu email address can still take advantage of the Peak Pricing Promotion by using the code Y26-RMACEDU.

KDSJ Radio: Black Hills State women's basketball continues to air live on KDSJ Radio with the voice of the Yellow Jackets, Steve Ammerman, giving the play-by-play for all the action.

• The Yellow Jackets are a brand-new team. They only have seven returning players and only two saw meaningful minutes last year with only one starter returning in Bradie Schlabs. Last year the Yellow Jackets went 18-11 (13-7 RMAC) and finished fourth in the conference and won a game in the RMAC Tournament. They bring in three transfers and six freshmen, while getting two girls back from injury.
• The Yellow Jackets are now 1-0 after a dominant 31-point win against St. Edward’s. In a shocking victory, the Yellow Jackets took it to the Hilltoppers taking a 27-8 lead after only one quarter. They outrebounded St. Edward’s 46-24, with 18 of those being offensive rebounds. They had 17 fast break points, 28 points off turnovers, and 44 points in the paint. They also shot 80 percent from the free throw line and 43.1 percent from the field.
• The Yellow Jackets were picked to finish sixth in the conference in the RMAC Preseason Coaches Poll with 127 points and one third place vote.
• Reigning All-RMAC Second Team Bradie Schlabs is the only starter returning this year. She was named to the Preseason All-RMAC Team. Schlabs was third on the team last year with 12.6 points per game, 5.4 rebounds a game and a historic 4.4 assists per game. Her 129 assists was good enough for third all-time in a single season in BHSU history and so were her 4.4 assists per game. She was the first player in BHSU history to have 300 points, 100 rebounds, and 100 assists in the same season and was the first player since 2023 to win an RMAC Player of the Week award. She reached double-digit points in 17 of her last 20 games and had three double doubles. She had a career-high 24 points versus CSUP, 12 rebounds versus Sioux Falls and eight assists versus Adams. Schlabs has started off her sophomore season in incredible fashion, scoring 23 points with 5 rebounds and 4 assists. She shot 8-14 from the field, 2-2 from three and 5-6 from the line.
• Addie Branscum is a newcomer, who is set to make a huge impact for the Yellow Jackets. In her freshman season with RMAC opponent Regis, Branscum started seven of the 27 games and averaged 25.3 minutes per game. She was fifth on the team with 6.0 points per game but was third with 5.3 rebounds per game. She shot 44.8 percent from the field making 60-134. She reached double digits in points five times and double digits in rebounds three times. Her career-high was 13 points, which she has now done three times, and 13 rebounds, which she did late in the season versus Colorado Christian. Branscum scored 13 points in the Jacket’s game versus SEU. She had ten of those in the first quarter. She also had four rebounds and two steals.
• Brinlee McRae is the other big transfer for BHSU. As one of only two upperclassmen, she brings a lot of experience and leadership to this young squad. McRae spent last season at in-state foe Augustana, where she started in 13 games and played 19.7 minutes per game. She averaged 6.5 points per game with 33 assists and 38 steals. She had a 33.0 percent field goal percentage and made 29-88 threes. She reached ten points nine times including a season-high 18 versus Hastings. Brinlee started her BHSU career strong with eight points, three rebounds, two assists, and three steals in 22 minutes of play. She shot 4-8 from the field.
• Emily Cooper was the other top player for the Yellow Jackets in the game versus St. Edward’s. She saw 26 minutes of play, which is seven minutes more than her previous career-high. She had seven points, seven rebounds (career-high), three assists (career-high), and three steals (career-high).
• Head coach Kelly Kruger is entering into his first season as Interim Head Coach of the BHSU Yellow Jackets. He is 1-0 in his time with the Green and Gold. He is in his 35th season as a head coach, however, and has a record of 532-446 with programs across all levels of college basketball including Northwestern College, Southwest Minnesota State, Adams State, Ashford University, and Iowa Central Community College.

• The St. Mary’s Rattlers are coming off a 14-14 (10-12 LSC) season and are entering the year with a young roster that had nine 20-point games last season. The Rattlers return 83.8 percent of its scoring and 82.5 percent of its rebounding from the 2024-25 team. Three separate sophomores had 20-point games last season. The Rattlers have three key returners and five transfers joining the squad this year making it a newer team for STMU. 
• The Rattlers are 1-0 this season after beating South Dakota Mines 54-50 in their first matchup of the season. STMU only shot 30.2 percent from the field, but shot 30.0 percent from the three-point line and outrebounded the Hardrockers 38-27.
• The Rattlers did a good job last season disrupting a team’s offensive trends, leading the Lone Star Conference with 28.5 defensive rebounds per game (30th nationally), blocking 3.6 shots per game (3 LSC, 62 D2), and holding teams to 26.4 percent shooting from the three-point line (2 LSC, 26 D2). The team also led in the league and ranked 22nd in the nation in rebound margin at +7.1
• St. Mary’s was picked to finish tenth out of 17 teams in the Lone Star conference with 438 points. However, each of the last two years, STMU have finished higher than the poll suggested they would.
• Christen Callens is the top returner for the Rattlers. Callens was named a Player to Watch in the Lone Star Conference. Callens broke the StMU freshman scoring record with 402 points (14.2 ppg) and was named to the Lone Star All-Conference Second Team in 2024-25. Callens was only the 6th freshman in St. Mary’s Division II history (2000-current) to score over 300 in their first season. However, she only had four points in the opener versus Mines.
• Raynne Malik is the top defender returning for St. Mary’s. Malik collected eight or more rebounds in seven of her final eight rebounds, including a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds in the season finale. Malik ranked seventh in the LSC with 7.7 per game and was the top-ranked freshman in the league and was only the fourth freshman in StMU DII history to have over 200 points and 200 rebounds in their first season. She also was second in the LSC and 18th in the nation in blocks per game with 2.07. She nearly had a double-double versus SDM, finisalhing with eight points, ten rebounds, and three blocks.
• Brianna Vargas was the top player for the Rattlers in the game versus the Hardrockers. Off the bench, she dropped 15 points and led the team in scoring. She shot 5-8 from the field and 5-8 from the three-point line. Vargas is a transfer from the JuCo Midland.
• Head Coach Valerie Huizar enters her fourth season with the Rattlers this season and currently has a 28-56 record at Saint Mary’s. She spent two years as the head coach of LSU Shreveport and went 41-21 over two seasons. She has a career 69-77 record.

SERIES HISTORY

• The Yellow Jackets and Rattlers have never faced each other in history, so this will be a chance for a team to get a 1-0 start on the matchup.