Black Hills State and first year head coach Rachel Erickson announced the 2024-25 Yellow Jacket women’s basketball schedule on Monday afternoon, August 12, 2024, a slate which features an exhibition against NCAA Division I competition and seven games against teams which qualified for the 2024 NCAA Division II Women’s Basketball Tournament.
Erickson makes her head coaching debut with Black Hills State on November 1 when the Yellow Jackets visit West Texas A&M as part of the D2CCA Tipoff Classic in Canyon, Texas. BHSU will close out their first weekend of play in the First United Bank Center with a match-up against perennial DII contender, Lubbock Christian on November 3.
The first game of the year on the newly refinished court of A2 Arena will be on November 8 when Minot State travels to Spearfish. The contests against NSIC foes will then carry into the next couple of weeks as the green and gold face Northern State and Sioux Falls on November 15 and 16 respectively in Rapid City, South Dakota, as part of the East/West Challenge. The Yellow Jackets then return home for games against Minnesota Crookston and Southwest Minnesota State on November 21 and 22.
The first month of the season ends with an exhibition match-up at Colorado State on November 25. The Rams, who went 20-11 (10-8 MWC) a year ago, posted a 13-2 record inside Moby Arena en route to a fourth-place finish in the Mountain West. Despite being 0-7 against NCAA Division I opponents in exhibitions since making the move to NCAA Division II, Black Hills State has had their foes on their heels on multiple occasions as three of those games have been decided by single digits.
RMAC action opens the month of December as BHSU visits South Dakota Mines on December 3 before returning home against Chadron State on December 7. The Yellow Jackets then face a pair of road contests against UC-Colorado Springs and Colorado Christian on December 12 and 14 respectively to close out the calendar year.
The new year begins seven of the next ten games played inside A2 Arena for Black Hills State, starting with match-ups against Regis and MSU Denver at home on January 9 and 11 respectively before road games at New Mexico Highlands and Fort Lewis on January 16 and 18. The final home contests in January feature games against Colorado Mesa and Western Colorado on January 23 and 25 before the month ends on January 30 at Chadron State.
Three consecutive home games against South Dakota Mines, CSU Pueblo, and UC-Colorado Springs on February 1, 6, and 8 begin the final month of the regular season. The Yellow Jackets then go on the road for four consecutive games against Colorado School of Mines, Regis, Westminster, and Colorado Mesa on February 13, 15, 20, and 22. Regular season play ends with a pair of games in Spearfish as BHSU welcomes Adams State and New Mexico Highlands to the Black Hills on February 27 and March 1.
The top eight teams in the regular season standings will qualify for the RMAC Tournament and it will be hosted by the No. 1 seed. The quarterfinals will be held on March 4, while the semifinals and championship games will be played on March 7 and 8 respectively.