GUNNISON, Colo. — A late three-pointer from the Mountaineers quelled a late rally as the South Dakota Mines women’s basketball team fell to Western Colorado University, 77-69, Tuesday night during the first round of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference quarter finals in Gunnison, Colorado.
Trailing by 10 points to start the fourth quarter, 59-49, the Hardrockers erased that deficit, going on a 10-0 run and tied the post-season opening game, 59-59, with 6:38 remaining in the contest.
It proved to be a back-and-forth battle from there, The Mountaineers was able regain the lead and pulled out to a seven-point advantage as they attempted to salt the game away with 1:39 left in regulation.
A three-pointer from Naomi Hidlago at the 45-second mark brought the Hardrockers withing four points, 70-66, but a WCU three-pointer at the other end from Samantha Coleman with 24 ticks to go proved to be the nail in the coffin for SDM. The Mountaineers converted free throws down the stretch to ice the game and advance to the semifinals, while the Hardrockers made an exit from post-season play.
The Hardrockers led after the first quarter, 20-17 but Western Colorado held the visitors to just six points in the second period while they scored 23 markers and went into halftime leading, 40-26. The ‘Rockers came out in the third quarter and registered 23 points to 17 by the home team and both squads posted 20 points over the final 10 minutes.
South Dakota Mines finished the game shooting 45.3 percent, including 8-18 from behind the arch. They added 13-15 on free throws. The ‘Rockers came down with 33 rebounds, tallied 10 assists, eight steals and four blocks.
Western Colorado made good on 26-53 attempts to shoot 41.3 percent from the field, including 39.1 from three-point range. The tack on 16-20 from the foul line, collected 34 rebounds, 19 assists, seven steals and four blocks.
Individually for the ‘Rockers, Hidalgo had a career night with 27 points, six rebounds, one blocked shot and one steal. Juneau Jones added 10 markers, four rebounds, two assists and one blocked shot. Makenna Bodette tallied nine markers while Michaela Shaklee and Anna Combalia both cashed in for eight points.
The Mountaineers were paced by Hannah Cooper and Coleman both putting up 16 points, while Mikaela Parker and Jadyn Kanzler each contributed with 11 points.
