Pine Ridge’s Cortez Standing Bear (Oglala-Lakota) Signs with Black Hills State University

SPEARFISH, S.D. – Black Hills State University head women’s basketball coach Mark Nore announced the addition of two more student-athletes for the 2016-17 season. Cortez Standing Bear, a graduate of Aberdeen Central High School, and Rebecca Stevenson, transferring the BHSU from Wenatchee Valley College, are set to join the Yellow Jackets as part of the seven-member recruiting class.

Standing Bear is a native of Pine Ridge, South Dakota, and competed for three years at Pine Ridge High School before competing at Aberdeen Central in Aberdeen, South Dakota, for her senior campaign where she won a State Championship and earned an Aberdeen American News All-Area selection.

At Pine Ridge, Standing Bear was a State Runner-Up and two-time team captain where she was later named the Pine Ridge High School Female Athlete of the Year after averaging 18 points and six rebounds per game.

“Cortez is a winner,” Nore said. “I love how she competes and brings a fearless mentality to everything she does. She has received a Bill Gates Scholarship, which tells you what kind of kid she is. She gets it done!”