by RAPID CITY, S.D. – Facing a top-two team in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference for the second straight game, the South Dakota Mines women’s basketball team was looking for the upset Saturday afternoon at the King Center.
The Hardrockers led the entire first half, up by as much as 12 points and trailed by just two points with 2:50 to play but fell to the University of Colorado Colorado Springs 66-56 in a game much closer than the final score. The loss dropped the Hardrockers to 5-13 in league play, while UCCS moved to 15-4 and is tied for first place in the conference with Regis University, Friday night’s opponent for South Dakota Mines.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Making just her second start of the season, sophomore Alexis Backhaus put the Hardrockers up early on a pair of 3-pointers. One free throw each by senior Naomi Hidalgo and sophomore Savea Mansfield gave SD Mines a 10-6 lead.
Three late points from freshman Morning Grace Spotted Bear gave the ‘Rockers a 13-10 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Four points from Mansfield and a basket from Hidalgo put the Hardrockers up 19-12 and a bucket by Backhaus and a 3-pointer by junior Piper Bauer made it a 26-14 game with 4:52 to play until halftime.
The Mountain Lions came roaring back and scored 10 unanswered points to cut the South Dakota Mines lead to 26-24 with 2:02 to play in the quarter. A 3-pointer by sophomore Lauren Herman ended the drought for the Hardrockers and they took a 29-24 lead into the locker room at halftime.
Backhaus led the Hardrockers at halftime with eight points and Spotted Bear added seven points. As a team, South Dakota Mines was 10-of-26 from the field, hit 4-of-11 3-pointers and was 5-of-8 from the free-throw line.
UCCS came out in the third quarter and scored 11 quick points for a 35-29 lead before Bauer’s lay-in ended the run at 7:30 to play in the quarter. Mansfield scored four points to cut the lead to 36-35, but UCCS responded with another 11-point run before Spotted Bear hit two late free throws to cut the lead to 47-37 with one quarter to play. The Mountain Lions outscored the Hardrockers 23-8 in the third quarter.
The ‘Rockers regained early momentum to score the first seven points of the fourth quarter – all by Spotted Bear that featured a bullet pass from junior Lily Peterson to set up a three-point play. The Mountain Lions came back with seven unanswered points to go back up by 10 before Mansfield’s basket ended the run with 5:35 to play. South Dakota Mines then followed with a free throw by Backhaus and a basket by Hidalgo to cut the lead to five.
One free throw by Spotted Bear and three points Mansfield cut the lead to 56-54 with 2:50 remaining. That was close as the ‘Rockers would get as UCCS responded with five straight points after South Dakota Mines had two missed two straight baskets.
Colorado Colorado Springs answered a Backhaus bucket with a 3-pointer to regain an eight-point lead with 25 seconds to play and never looked back for the 66-56 victory.
