SPEARFISH, S.D.- The Black Hills State Yellow Jackets (10-6 (7-2 RMAC)) had a D2 era record nine-game winning streak snapped at the hands of the #9 Colorado Mesa Mavericks and now drop to two games back of the RMAC leaders and one game back of second place with their 7-2 record. The Yellow Jackets now stay in western Colorado to face the Western Colorado Mountaineers (8-7 (6-3 RMAC)) to keep their good play streak going and to remain in the top three of the RMAC.


KNOW BEFORE YOU GO:
Date/Time/Location: Saturday, January 24 / 1 p.m. / Gunnison, Colo. / Paul Wright Gym
Tickets: Tickets can be purchased online at the link above.
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.

BLACK HILLS STATE STORYLINES

• The Yellow Jackets are 10-6 and 7-2 in the RMAC and started their 2026 4-1 with wins over Regis, MSU Denver, New Mexico Highlands, and Fort Lewis. The Yellow Jackets just lost to Mesa in what was their lowest scoring game of the season so far as they only put up 49 points and shot 31.7 percent from the field and 15 percent from three. They did play great defense holding CMU to 37.3 percent from the field.
• Through the first 15 games of the season BHSU is averaging 69.3 points, 45.1 rebounds, 15.6 assists, 9.5 steals, and 2.0 blocks per game, while shooting the ball 40.6 percent from the field, 27.5 percent from 3-point range, and 67.8 percent from the free throw line. Their opponents are averaging 52.6 points, 30.1 rebounds, 8.8 assists, 7.1 steals, and 2.7 blocks per game, while shooting the ball 36.0 percent from the field, 25.1 percent from 3-point range, and 68.5 percent from the free throw line.
• BHSU is ranked in the top 20 in the country in six different stats so far this year. They are second in rebound margin (15.0), fifth in rebounds per game (45.06), seventh in scoring defense (52.6), 12^th in offensive rebounds per game (16.6), 14^th in scoring margin (16.6), and 19th in three point percentage defense (25.1).
• 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 were picked to finish sixth in the conference in the RMAC Preseason Coaches' Poll with 127 points and one third place vote. They are currently 7-2 in the RMAC and in a tie for third in the conference with Colorado School of Mines.
• The Yellow Jackets have now won the rebounding battle in each of their first 16 games to begin the season. It is the longest streak in BHSU's RMAC history that they've won the rebounding battle and the first time that they've won it in 16 straight to begin the season.
• The Yellow Jackets are averaging 16.6 offensive rebounds per game and for the first time in BHSU's RMAC history have won the offensive rebounding battle in all 16 games this season, which is the first time to begin a season and the longest streak in program's D2 history.
• The nine game win streak that just ended in a loss to Colorado Mesa is the longest streak in Yellow Jacket's D2 history. It just past an eight-game win streak in 2017-18, when BHSU started the season 8-0 before losing to Colorado School of Mines. The Yellow Jackets sit in a tie for 12^th in the country in current win streaks.
• The Yellow Jackets have six wins this year by 20 points or more. They only did so five times in all of the 2024-25 season.
• .The Yellow Jackets were in a defensive battle with FLC with BHSU winning 59-52 in what has been their lowest scoring win of the year. Both teams shot less than 38 percent from the field during the game with BHSU barely edging out FLC with 37.5 percent from the field and FLC shooting 37.3 percent. The two teams also combined for 4-31 (.129) from three-point range, which was the first time since BHSU's opening D2 game that the two teams have combined for less than four threes on more than 30 attempts
• Against PUCPR, The Green and Gold set the record for most rebounds in a single game in BHSU's RMAC history (61), most offensive rebounds in a single game in BHSU's RMAC history (29), least fouls in a single game in BHSU's RMAC history (4), and it was the first time since 2019 that the Yellow Jackets scored 90 points in a game (91), and the most assists in a game since 2017 (26). The Yellow Jackets used all of this to set the biggest win margin of the season and the biggest since 2017 (58).
• They won three games in a row by 50 or more points, which is the first time in program history. They beat PUCPR by 58 and then beat UPR Mayaguez by 51. Just last night they beat Regis by 53 to keep the 50-point streak alive.
• They defeated the Chadron State Eagles by 49 in what is now the second largest RMAC margin of victory in program history. The Yellow Jackets held a 51-10 lead at halftime. This held the record for largest RMAC margin of victory for just over a month before the Yellow Jackets broke it with a  53-point win over the Regis Rangers.
• The Yellow Jackets shot 25-31 from the free throw line in the win versus UCCS. It was only the second time since 2021 that BHSU made 25 free throws in a game. It was also only the fourth time in the program's D2 era that they made 25 or more free throws in a game and shot over 80 percent from the line.
• On the other hand, the 38.9 percent from the charity stripe (7-18) that UCCS shot was the lowest free-throw percentage by an opponent who shot over 15 free throws in BHSU's D2 history.
• In the matchup versus Regis, the Yellow Jackets set the season record for steals in a game with 21. They outrebounded the Rangers 50-22 and outrebounded them offensively 20-2. They shot 47.2 percent from the field on 35-74 and held Regis to 31.0 percent from the field and .67 percent from the three-point line. The Yellow Jackets held opponents to 2-30 from three in their matchups versus Regis and UPR Mayaguez combined.
• Reigning All-RMAC Second Team Bradie Schlabs is the only starter returning this year. She was named to the Preseason All-RMAC Team. She has started the year averaging 9.7 points per game, which leads the team, 4.0 rebounds and 4.9 assists. After becoming the first player in BHSU history to have 300 points, 100 rebounds, and 100 assists in a season last year, the sophomore has reached ten points in nine of the 16 games this season. Schlabs is now ranked fourth in the RMAC in assists/turnover ratio (1.51), 27th in the country and first in the RMAC in total assists (78), and is 17th in the country and is leading the conference in assists per game (4.9). She has had two assists in every game this year and has had four in 13 of 16. She also has two steals in nine of the last 12 games. She had a career-high nine assists in the win versus PUCPR and added seven more versus UPRM. In the matchup versus Regis, she had 11 points, eight rebounds, six assists, and three steals in one of her better all-around games of the season. In the win over Highlands, she had a team-high 14 points and then put up ten points in the win versus Fort Lewis. She was the only player in double-digits against Mesa with 13 points, six rebounds, and four assists.
• Sawyer Stoebner is second on the team in scoring with 9.4 points per game and had three ten plus point outing in a row against CSC, UCCS, and CCU. She is also leading the team with 6.5 rebounds. Stoebner is second in the RMAC in offensive rebounds per game (3.3). She went out and put 15 points on the Cougars and shot 7-7 from the free throw line. This was just after she had her first 20-point game of her career versus Minnesota Crookston. She also had 14 rebounds during the East/West Challenge with a career-high eight versus Sioux Falls. Stoebner had 11 points, five rebounds, and six steals in the dominant win over the Eagles. Then turned it around and had 10 points and 5 rebounds versus the Mountain Lions. Finally, she finished 2025 RMAC play by scoring 11 points and grabbing eight rebounds against the Cougars. Stoebner has now reached ten points in three straight games and had her first double-double of her career against MSU Denver when she put up 11 points and 13 rebounds, which was a career high. She followed that performance with another near double-double with 13 points and nine rebounds against NMHU.
• Taylin Serlen has made a massive impact as of late for the Yellow Jackets. The Regis transfer, after only playing a combined 40 minutes in the first six games of the season has averaged 22.0 minutes over the last nine games. She is averaging 8.5 points per game and is shooting a team-high 54.2 percent from the field on 52-96 shooting. She has entered the starting lineup and made her presence known. Against UCCS, she was tasked with guarding one of the RMAC's top scorers the entire game and held her to eight points. She also shot 6-8 from the free throw line in that game en route to eight points, four rebounds, and a block. Against CCU, she had her best RMAC game of her career on Saturday. She had an RMAC career-high 17 points on 7-12 (.583) from the field and 3-4 (.750) from the line, she also had five rebounds and a block. In the two games in Puerto Rico, she averaged 15 points per game reaching 16 versus PUCPR with 7 rebounds and then 14 versus UPR Mayaguez with four rebounds. Serlen went 12-17 (.705) from the field in the two games. She had 14 points and eight rebounds versus MSUD including eight points in the first quarter. Serlen led BHSU in scoring against FLC with 12 points to go along with four rebounds and two blocks.
• Brinlee McRae has been on a tear recently. She is averaging 7.4 points per game and 3.0 rebounds per game, but she averaged 17.0 points per game in Puerto Rico scoring 19 and 15 in the two games there, while coming back and scoring eight points with four assists against Regis. She has nine of her 20 assists in the last three games. She had the best game of her career against MSU Denver, where she dropped a career-high 27 points and six rebounds. She shot 11-17 (.647) from the field and 5-8 (.625) from three. It was the most points, field goals made, and threes made by any Yellow Jacket this season.
• Alli Glasscock is making a massive impact as a freshman. She has only been averaging 15.8 minutes per game but has averaged 7.2 points and 4.4 rebounds. She is shooting 43.9 percent from the file don 36-82 shooting. She nearly had a double-double versus Northern State, where she had 12 points and nine rebounds which were both career-highs. Against CSC, she had eight points, six rebounds and four steals. Coming back to the lineup against Regis, she had 14 points, 5 rebounds, and three steals in 15 minutes of action. 12 of those 14 points came in the fourth quarter and she shot 6-10 (.600) from the field. She had eight points and six rebounds versus the Roadrunners. She had her third ten-point game of the season against the Cowgirls. She also had six rebounds, which she has reached six times in her last nine games that she has had at least five rebounds.
• Emily Cooper is in the midst of a breakout sophomore campaign, the Eau Claire, Wisconsin native is averaging 7.0 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 3.5 assists this year. She is ranked 18th in the country and second in the RMAC in assists/turnover ratio (2.07). She is also ranked fifth in the RMAC in assists per game (3.5). Cooper had a great game earlier in the season where she had 14 points versus Sioux Falls. She shot 5-12 from the field and 3-10 from the three-point line. While also adding three rebounds and three assists. Cooper beat that with a career-night versus UCCS, where she had a career-high 19 points, with 12 of them coming in the fourth quarter. She shot 4-8 from the field, 4-8 from three, and 7-8 from the charity stripe including making three of four in the final 18 seconds. She had nine points, four rebounds, and three assists versus the Roadrunners and went 3-5 (.600) from three-point range.
• Maureen Ulrich has started ten of 16 games this season and is starting to come on as of late this season. She is averaging 6.5 points per game and 3.4 rebounds per game while shooting 39-76 (.513) from the field. She has scored double digits four times this year including 12 in the win versus Chadron State and a season-high 13 points in the win versus Regis on January 8. She shot 6-8 (.750) from the field in the game. She had eight points and an RMAC-game high of eight rebounds versus Fort Lewis, which she matched with eight rebounds in the loss to the Mavericks.
• Audrey Norville has turned into a solid player for BHSU. She played a lot of minutes last year and has now been thrown into the starting lineup. She is second on the team in rebounds with 5.9, while averaging 6.1 points per game. After not scoring in the first game versus SEU, Norville had a stellar second start, where she had her first career double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Each of those were career highs. She nearly had her second career double-double with seven points and eight rebounds versus UCCS. She went 5-5 from the free throw line in that game. Norville has had five or more rebounds in nine of 14 games this year. She had six points to go along with the eight rebounds versus CCU and shot 2-2 from behind the arc. She had 17 combined points in P.R. and then had ten rebounds versus UPR Mayaguez. In the game against MSUD, she had a career-high six assists beating her previous career-high of two. She had six points and six rebounds versus NMHU. She then matched that with six points and seven rebounds versus the Skyhawks. She had one of her better games this season against Mesa with nine points, eight rebounds, and two assists
• Head coach Kelly Kruger is in the midst of his first season as Interim Head Coach of the BHSU Yellow Jackets. He is 10-6 in his time with the Green and Gold. He is in his 35th season as a head coach, however, and has a record of 543-451 with programs across all levels of college basketball including Northwestern College, Southwest Minnesota State, Adams State, Ashford University, and Iowa Central Community College.

 
WESTERN COLORADO STORYLINES

• Western Colorado is currently sitting at 8-7 and 6-3 in the RMAC with a 3-1 record in 2025 and a 3-2 record in 2026 in conference play. They do have losses to New Mexico Highlands and Colorado Christian who BHSU beat as well as CMU, but they have beaten South Dakota Mines, Fort Lewis, and CSU Pueblo, who are all in the top half of the RMAC. They also have a non-conference OT loss to #12 Pittsburgh State, but also lost by ten to a St. Edward's team BHSU beat by 30.
• This past weekend, WCU went 2-0 with wins over Highlands and SDM. They won the two games by a combined 14 points and allowed 60.5 points per game compared to scoring 67.5 per game. Against SDM, they shot 51.1 percent from the field and 13-25 (.520) from three. It was their sixth game this year that they shot over 40 percent from three.
• Through the first 15 games of the season WCU is averaging 64.6 points, 37.9 rebounds, 10.6 assists, 5.1 steals, and 2.9 blocks per game, while shooting the ball 42.0 percent from the field, 38.0 percent from 3-point range, and 68.3 percent from the free throw line. Their opponents are averaging 63.9 points, 31.4 rebounds, 10.0 assists, 9.6 steals, and 2.1 blocks per game, while shooting the ball 37.9 percent from the field, 30.6 percent from 3-point range, and 72.7 percent from the free throw line.
• One of the key issues for Western is turnovers. They average 17.3 turnovers per game and have only had three games this year where they have turned the ball over less than 15 times. They have turned the ball over 20 times in five games this season and had a combined 39 turnovers this past weekend versus WC and SDM.
• The Mountaineers are one of the best three-point shooting teams in the country. They are ranked fourth in three-point percentage (38.0) and are ranked 43^rd in three pointers made per game (7.7). They are also top 50 in two other categories. WCU is 31^st in defensive rebounds per game (28.6), and 42^nd in rebound margin (6.5).
• Western Colorado was picked to finish fourth in the conference with 150 points with two second place votes and four third place votes. They now sit in a tie for fifth in the RMAC with a conference record of 6-3.
• Their star player has a good chance of making First Team All-RMAC for the second straight season. Ivey Schmidt finished last season averaging 13.3 points per game and 5.1 rebounds a game. She had 21 double-digit games and reached 20 points six times. This year, she is drastically outperforming, averaging 19.2 points per game and 7.0 rebounds a game. She is ranked third in the RMAC In points per game, third in the RMAC in minutes per game (34.44), and fifth in rebounds per game. She is also one of the RMAC's top three-point shooter ranking first in the conference and in the country in three-point percentage (47.6). In 15 games, Schmidt has reached double-digits in all but one game and has reached 20 eight times. She has reached six rebounds in 12 games this year so far, but only has one double-double which came in a loss to St. Mary's where she had 18 points and 10 rebounds. She was named RMAC Offensive Player of the week once after averaging 23 points per game in matchups versus MSU Denver and Regis back-to-back. This past weekend she averaged 19 points and seven rebounds after putting up 21 and 6 versus Westminster.
• If Schmidt isn't the top three point shooter in the RMAC than it may go to her teammate Jayda Maves. Maves is averaging 13.3 points per game this year and is shooting 42-90 (.467) from three which ranks second in the conference and fourth in the country. She also ranks first in the RMAC and 31^st in the country in total three pointers at 42 and is ranked first in the RMAC and 14^th in the country in three pointers per game (2.80). This season she has multiple threes in 12 of 15 games and has put up a season high five in a game twice. She has scored in double figures in 12 games this season including a season high 19 last Saturday versus SDM, where she went 6-10 from the field and 5-7 from three.
• Alyssa Eckroth is the only other scorer for Western and she averages 12.6 points per game. Eckroth is ranked third in the RMAC in free-throw percentage (82.3) after going 65-79 from the line so far this year. She has reached ten points in 11 games this year including each of the last five. She had a season-high 21 versus CSU Pueblo with ten of those points being free throws. This weekend she had 19 points versus the Hardrockers with seven free throws in eight attempts.
• Adam Jacobson is in his fourth season at the helm of WCU and is in his sixth season overall after spending two seasons at North Dakota State College of Science. He has an 86-68 record overall and a 42-56 record as a Mountaineer. He went 21-8 last year after two rough season and is on pace to another winning season this year.

SERIES HISTORY

• The Yellow Jackets lead the series versus the Mountaineers 13-5 and have won seven of the last ten and four of the last five.
• Last season, BHSU faced Western one time and fell to them 56-51 in A2 Arena. BHSU was ahead at half and then only put up three points in the third quarter to allow WCU to take a nine-point lead going into the fourth quarter. Despite a good quarter from the Green and Gold, Western held on to win.
• Head Coach Kelly Kruger was 9-6 versus WCU during his time at Adams State and lost his most recent matchup versus them.