SPEARFISH, S.D. – The No. 16 University of Colorado Colorado Springs women's basketball team will begin the second half of the RMAC season on first place and on the road when the Mountain Lions (15-2 / 10-1 RMAC) take on Black Hills State (10-5 / 8-3 RMAC) at 5:30 p.m., in the Donald E. Young Center. The Yellow Jackets are two games behind the Mountain Lions and in third in the conference standings.

UCCS hasn't lost a game in more than a month with a seven-game winning streak going into Friday's game. The Mountain Lions have climbed to second in the latest regional media poll and have collected the most votes in program history for a regular season WBCA national poll. 

The Mountain Lions have collected nine of the 18 RMAC Player of the Week awards this season, most recently with Abby Kirchoff's Offensive Player of the Week award on Monday. It was her third offensive player of the week award this season and came after she averaged 22.5 points per game last weekend. She is leading the RMAC and No. 13 in Division II with 21.2 points per game this season.

Brittany Hernandez swept the RMAC Offensive and Defensive Player of the Week awards the week before and is the only conference student-athlete averaging a double-double with 10.0 rebounds and 19.2 points per game. She is also leading the league with 54.2 percent from the field. Hernandez needs only 31 more rebounds to tie for No. 10 in single-season records and holds the single-game record with 21 from earlier this season against Point Loma.

Gabby Ramirez has the best assist-to-turnover ratio in the conference and region at 2.28. She is sixth in the RMAC with 3.9 assists per game and with 38.6 percent from the three-point line.

UCCS swept the season series with the Yellow Jackets last season and is 3-1 against them all-time since they joined the RMAC in the 2012-13 season. 

Black Hills State had a five-game winning streak snapped last Saturday night in a 79-61 road loss to New Mexico Highlands. The Yellow Jackets are undefeated at home at 6-0, which included a double-overtime win against Colorado Mesa on Dec. 6. Chelsey Biegler leads the team with 12.6 points per game and Dakota Barrie is leading a balanced rebounding effort with five boards per game.

Fans can follow the action with Friday's game with live stats through Black Hills State, live audio through UCCS and live video through America One Sports. A free watch party will also be available for all fans in Clyde's, located on the first floor of the University Center.