ALAMOSA, Colo.—The Adams State University Women's Basketball team will look to grow on their season-opening win when they host the South Dakota Mines Hardrockers on Saturday inside Plachy Hall.
Game Information
Teams: Adams State (1-0, 1-0 RMAC) vs South Dakota Mines (0-2, 0-2 RMAC)
Date: Saturday, December 12, 2020
Tip-Off: 3:00 p.m.
Location: Alamosa, Colo.
Site: Plachy Hall (2,500)
Series Record: South Dakota Mines leads, 5-0
Coaches
ASU:
Jaime Green, 7-48 (3rd Season, ASU); 48-62 (4th Overall)
UCCS: Jeri Jacobson, 15-14 (2nd Season)
Media Coverage (Click Links)
Live Video: RMAC Network (
https://portal.stretchinternet.com/adams/)
ASU Radio: KSPK-FM, 104.1 FM (
http://stream.kspk.com:8000/live.mp3)
Live Stats: ASU Website (
https://asugrizzlies.com/sidearmstats/wbball/summary)
Fast Start
The Grizzlies look to start the season 2-0 on Saturday when they host South Dakota Mines. If they win, it will be the first time since 2017 that they open 2-0. The last time they opened 3-0 was in 2013 when they opened the season 4-0.
The Grizzlies were able to snap a 16-game losing streak against CSU-Pueblo on Thursday afternoon as they won their season and home-opener 62-61. The win was the Grizzlies first since 2011 and marks the first time the Grizzlies opened the season 1-0 since 2017.
Adams State returns just three letter-winners from last year's squad that finished with a 4-24 record and a 14th place finish in the RMAC.
Adams State will be returning two players who sat out all but one and two games, respectively, in 2019-20 due to injury.
Kaela McClure, who played in just one game will be back, while
Stephanie Ruiz returns to the Grizzly ranks as a leader. Ruiz, who has played in 54 games as a Grizzly, starting 44 of them, averages 11.6 points per game as she is a consistent 37 percent shooter from the field and an equal 33 percent shooter from beyond the arch.
Kassie Schell returns for her junior season. She has played in 36 games for the Grizzlies including 12 in the starting lineup. She averages 2.6 points per game and 2.1 rebounds. Sophomore
Laura Gutierrez will play her second season as a Grizzly. Last season she played in 27 games, starting 20 of those, averaging 8.6 points per game as she was a 28 percent shooter from the field. Also returning for her second season is
Paiton Demps. She played in 27 games last season, 22 of which she started in. She averaged 4.8 points per game and 4.4 rebounds per game.
Adams State got stellar reinforcements this season in Division I transfer
Kaitlyn Bell and junior college transfers Kayla Harris and Haley Eaves and freshman
Elaina Watson.
The Grizzlies were selected to finish 13th in the 2020 RMAC preseason Coaches' poll. ASU received 37 points while Colorado Mesa, the two-time defending RMAC Tournament Champions have been tabbed as the favorite to repeat in the 2020-21 RMAC Women's Basketball poll. The Mavericks received 189 points and eight first-place votes. They finished last year with an overall record of 26-5.
Jaime Green returns for her third year at the helm and brings in assistant coach
Mario Ceatano who moved just a couple of miles north from Northern New Mexico.
About South Dakota Mines
The Hardrockers enter the match 0-2 after falling to Colorado School of Mines 53-68 to open the season and then falling to Regis 67-71, both games on the road.
Returning for the Rockers this season are guards Ryan Weiss, Anna Combalia, Michaela Shaklee, and Francesca Facchini. Forwards returning will be Naomi Hidalgo, and Melissa Johnstone.
Weiss is the leading scorer returning averaging 16.9 points per game last year and Hidalgo cashed in for almost seven a game along with 4.2 rebounds.
New to the Hardrockers lineup this year are guards Bailey Johnson, Maggie Smith, Madelyn Heiser, and Kaydin Davis. Forwards will include Sydnee Durtsche, Juneau Jones, and Makenna Bodette.
S.D. Mines was picked to finish sixth in the RMAC Coaches' Preseason Poll. They picked up 105 points in the poll of 15 coaches.
Series History vs. South Dakota Mines
The Grizzlies and Hardrockers have only met five times in their history. South Dakota Mines has won all five contests. The first time these two teams have meet was on February 6, 2016 in Rapid City.
The Grizzlies are 0-3 in South Dakota, and 0-2 in Alamosa.
Last season, the Grizzlies fell to South Dakota Mines 75-46.
Broadcast Information
Saturday's game with South Dakota Mines will be broadcast live on the RMAC Network (
https://portal.stretchinternet.com/adams/) and will be produced by ASU. Since spectators will not be allowed to attend the game in person, fans can tune in and follow along with live stats (
https://asugrizzlies.com/sidearmstats/wbball/summary).
In addition, KSPK-FM will once again serve as the official radio station of Adams State Athletics. Brian Loch will call Saturday's action for Adams State.
Fans can access the game online (
http://stream.kspk.com:8000/live.mp3) or on the radio dial KSPK can be heard on 100.3 in Colorado Springs, Alamosa and the San Luis Valley, 104.1 in South Fork and Trinidad, and 102.3 in Pueblo and Walsenburg.
Up Next
The Grizzlies will host Colorado Mesa University on Friday, December 18, with tip off scheduled for 5:30 p.m. That game will be the final game until the Grizzlies travel to Denver for two games in 2021.
Due to the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 in the San Luis Valley, all Adams State University home games in 2020 will be played without spectators. ASU Athletics will continuously re-evaluate the policy as local and state guidelines change.
