SPEARFISH, S.D.- Black Hills State University Women's Basketball announced their 2026-27 schedule Tuesday afternoon. The schedule will consist of 28 regular season games with the usual 20 conference games and will also have four similar non-conference opponents from last year while adding in two new ones. In addition, BHSU will play two D1 exhibition games.

The year will start off with one of those Division I exhibition games when BHSU heads to Bozeman, Montana to face the Montana State Bobcats on November 2. The Yellow Jackets have never faced Montana State and will get that chance this year.

The Green and Gold will begin regular season play in similar fashion to last season but will head on the road to Texas to face Lone Star Conference foes St. Edwards in Austin and St. Mary's (TX) in San Antonio on November 13 and 14. BHSU faced both of these opponents in A2 Arena last year and split their matchups taking the first game versus St. Edwards by 31, before falling in a three-point game to St. Mary's.

The Yellow Jackets will once again participate in the East/West challenge facing both Sioux Falls and Northern State with this year's challenge being hosted in Aberdeen, S.D. on November 20 and 21. The team went 0-2 in the East/West challenge last year but have won two of the last three versus Sioux Falls. Coach Kelly Kruger also has a lot of experience versus these two teams going 21-21 combined versus the two schools.

The final non-conference tournament of the fall will be the Yellowjacket Classic in Billings, Montana. The Jackets will start with Montana State-Billings on November 27 before facing Canadian Simon Fraser on November 28. BHSU has won three straight games versus the Yellowjackets and this will be their first time facing Simon Fraser.

That will lead into the conference play of the RMAC, where the Yellow Jackets will begin with three straight home games facing Western Colorado, who BHSU knocked out in the first round of the RMAC tournament this past year, on November 3 for their home opener. They will then face Westminster on November 5, who BHSU beat by double digits this past year for their fourth straight win.

This leads to the first rivalry week of the year where BH hosts Chadron on November 8 and visits South Dakota Mines on November 10. BHSU beat Chadron in both games last season and have now won 28 of the last 31 games versus the Eagles. The Jackets went 1-1 last year versus South Dakota Mines and have won eight of the last ten.

The Yellow Jackets will have three holiday break games starting with a home matchup on December 19 versus Nebraska Wesleyan who BH has never faced. They will then face Wayne State (NE) on December 30 in A2 Arena and are 1-1 in the D2 era versus the Wildcats winning their most recent matchup in 2021 66-50. They finish their holiday break with their second D1 exhibition of the year where they will head to Brookings to face South Dakota State on January 2. The Yellow Jackets have not played against the Jackrabbits since 2012 and have only played against them twice in the 2000s.

Once conference play resumes in 2027, BHSU will face Colorado Christian on January 7 and CSU Pueblo on January 9. BHSU will hope to win their eighth of the last nine meetings versus the Cougars and then will look to win their sixth straight versus Pueblo that includes their win over the Thunderwolves in the first round of the 2025 RMAC Tournament.

The Green and Gold's first home weekend back from break includes matchups versus MSU Denver on January 14 and Colorado School of Mines on January 16. BHSU has won seven of their last nine versus the roadrunners including an 81-68 win over them in Denver last season, while they have won two of the last three versus CSM and won 62-50 last year in A2 Arena.

A five-game road trip awaits the Yellow Jackets after that starts with a southern Colorado trip where they will face Fort Lewis on January 21 and then Adams State on January 23. The Yellow Jackets were able to extend their winning streak over FLC to 17 this past year with a 59-52 win in A2 Arena. BHSU upset Adams State in their only matchup last year which snapped a short losing streak.

The second part of the road trip for the Green and Gold is a trip to the western side of Colorado where they will face Colorado Mesa for their lone face-off of the year on January 28 before getting a second matchup versus Western Colorado. BHSU will look to get over the Mesa hump this year and Western will be their first rematch of the year.

The second rivalry week comes up after with a fifth straight away game in Chadron, Nebraska on February 2. The Yellow Jackets will look to keep extending the win streak versus a team they beat by 13 in the Chicoine Center last year. Then comes the game versus SDM in A2 Arena on February 6 as BHSU will look to win their sixth straight home matchup versus the Hardrockers.

BHSU has their second to last home stand versus UCCS and Colorado Christian on February 11 and 13 as BHSU will look to take a third straight home win versus the Mountain Lions as they beat them 61-56 last year. BHSU has now won 12 of the last 16 versus UCCS. They will then get their second meeting versus Colorado Christian, who they beat 70-48 in A2 Arena last year.

The final road trip of the year will be a Denver trip as BHSU will play Regis on February 18 and MSUD on February 20. The Jackets have now won 12 of the last 15 versus the Rangers and won both games last year by a combined point differential of +76 including a 53-point win that is the largest RMAC win in program history. MSUD will be the second matchup of the year and BHSU will now be looking to grab their fifth straight victory in the Auraria Event Center.

The Yellow Jackets will end their season in A2 Arena where they will face Adams State on February 25 and New Mexico Highlands on February 27 to end the regular season. The matchup versus ASU will be a meeting of two of the top five teams in the RMAC last season and should be a really crucial RMAC defining game. While BHSU will look to keep their streak going of 10 straight home wins versus the Cowgirls.

Depending on where BHSU finishes, the RMAC tournament will start on March 2 at the higher seeds home arena and then the semifinals and championship will be at the highest remaining seeds arena on March 5 and 6. If BHSU is able to make it to the NCAA Tournament, that will begin on March 12 with the Championship being on March 27 in Fort Wayne, Indiana.