COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Two of the top five teams in the RMAC Preseason Poll will open their conference schedules on Friday when the University of Colorado Colorado Springs hosted Black Hills State in a 5:30 p.m., game at the Gallogly Events Center. The Mountain Lions (3-3) were picked third in the preseason poll, one spot ahead of Black Hills State (0-4).
UCCS won the first three games of the season before a three-game skid to end the non-conference season. The Mountain Lions played the last two games without RMAC Preseason Player of the Year
Brittany Hernandez against a pair of nationally-ranked NAIA teams.
Tori Fisher scored 15 points on Friday and
Jen Vigil scored 21 on Saturday as the duo lead the Mountain Lions in scoring this season.
Hernandez is third on the team with 9.8 rebounds per game and second with seven rebounds per game despite missing the second half against Texas Woman's on Nov. 28. She leads the Mountain Lions and is tied for third with seven blocked shots.
Fisher has the 11th-best field goal percentage in Division II this season and leads the South Central Region with 61.2 percent. She has shot 60 percent or better in four games this season and scored at least 15 points of each of those games. Fisher leads UCCS and is seventh in the RMAC with 7.7 rebounds per game.
The Dec. 1, start of the home season is the latest start to the home schedule since a Dec. 16, date against Western State in the 2006-07 season. UCCS was 12-5 at home last season and has a six-game home winning streak since Jan. 16, 2016.
Vigil leads the RMAC with 3.2 steals per game, and UCCS leads the conference with 10.7 per game. Black Hills State is second in the league with 10.5 per game. The Yellow Jackets have three of the top 10 student-athletes in the conference in steals, led by Rachel Erickson's 2.0 per game.
Black Hills State is 0-4, but suffered two losses to Northern State, which is receiving votes in the latest Women's Basketball Coaches Association Top 25 poll. The Yellow Jackets lost but their narrowest margin last Friday in a 71-67 setback to Minnesota State. Sierra Toms leads a balanced Black Hills State team with 10.8 points per game.
Mac Buckley will call the game with color analyst Charlie Botnick on the UCCS Athletic Network, and the game will be available for xfinity subscribers on channel 20 in Colorado Springs, Prism subscribers on channel 8001 and Falcon Broadband channel 77. The game will also be carried on the women's basketball Facebook page and on the department's Stretch Internet portal.
