RAPID CITY, S.D. – The Colorado State University Pueblo women's basketball team fell victim to a poor shooting night from the field here Friday evening as the ThunderWolves fell to South Dakota Mines 71-44 in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference action at the King Center. 

With the setback, the Pack fall to 11-9 overall and 6-6 in the RMAC, while South Dakota Mines improved to 5-13 overall and 5-7 in the league. The loss, which snapped a three-game win streak for the Pack, kept the Pack in a tie for eighth place with Colorado Christian in the league standings. 

The rough shooting night for the Pack entailed just 33 percent on 17-of-51 shooting from the field. CSU Pueblo only made five shots in the second half which led to just 12 second half points. The Pack, who average almost 66 points a game were held to a season-low 44 points. The previous season low point total was 45 in a 61-45 home loss to then eighth-ranked Mines on Jan. 12. 

Redshirt junior forward Alisha Little (Aurora, Colo./Northern Colorado) paced the Pack offensively with 17 points, which all came in the first half. The RMAC leader in rebounding was held to a season-low three boards, but did record a blocked shot to push her season total to 67, which is tops in the league. 

In addition to Litlte, redshirt junior forward Autumn Watts (Centennial, Colo./McNeese State) added 12 points on 4-for-10 shooting from the field and added six rebounds and had a blocked shot. Watts scored six of the Pack's 12 second half points. 

The Pack fell behind 20-10 to start the contest as South Dakota Mines' leading scorer Paige Bauer got hot early, scoring 12 points in the first quarter. However, Little was not going to let Bauer have all the fun as she scored eight points herself in the first quarter and the Hardrockers took a 20-14 lead after one period of play. 

Another hot start to the second quarter for South Dakota Mines propelled their lead back up to nine at after buckets from Bauer and Naomi Hidalgo. CSU eventually settled in and made it a game as Little answered with an and-one and junior guard Shamahra Henderson (Denver, Colo./Cowley County CC) answered the Hardrockers again as she made a tough fast-break layup to cut the lead to six at 30-24. With not much defense being played from either squad in the second quarter and both teams scoring at will, CSU Pueblo did put together some stops and ended the half on a 6-2 run to trail just by four at 36-32 going into the break.

Starting the second half with the game still in reach for the Pack, the worst possible outcome happened for CSU Pueblo. The Pack went cold and the Hardrockers got hot. Three minutes into the third quarter the Hardrockers opened their lead up to 10 after made shots from Hidalgo, Savea Mansfield, and Morning Grace Spotted Bear.

Watts had a nice start to the third quarter for the Pack as she scored the first six points for the Pack. With the lead at eight for the Hardrockers with four minutes to play in the quarter, things only got better as South Dakota Mines went on a 12-0 run to end the quarter as Bauer got hot from deep. South Dakota Mines led 58-38 with Bauer leading all scorers at 27 points.

With the final period starting, the hole got deeper and deeper for the Pack as South Dakota Mines opened up the fourth quarter on a 6-0 run with shots from Hidalgo and Spotted Bear. Henderson and graduate student guard Romola Rominguez (Denver, Colo./Central Arkansas) temporarily stopped the bleeding on a mini 4-0 run, but that was short lived as South Dakota Mines responded on a 7-0 run to extend their lead up to 29. Junior guard Tomia Johnson (Colorado Springs, Colo./Florida Gulf Coast) scored the final bucket of the game with 2:45 left to go to cap the Pack's scoring.

The Pack will look to will redeem themselves tomorrow afternoon as they have an RMAC date with Black Hills State on the road in Spearfish, S.D. at 4:00 p.m. Black Hills State improved to 10-5 overall and 7-4 in the league following its 74-52 home win Friday over New Mexico Highlands.