GAME NOTES

OPENING TIP
The Southwest Minnesota State University women's basketball will travel west to Rapid City, S.D., for a non-conference game with South Dakota School of Mines and Technology on Friday, Nov. 22, at 6:30 p.m. central time. The Mustangs are coming off a 1-1 performance in California and are now 2-1 overall. SMSU defeated SDSMT last season at the R/A Facility by a score of 71-67 and now an all-time series advantage of 2-0 - both wins are in the Kruger-era.

LAST?TIME?OUT
Southwest Minnesota State suffered its first loss of the 2013-14 season on Nov. 16, when the Mustangs fell to California State Monterey Bay 57-45. SMSU started the season 2-0 for the first time since the 2008-09 season. Alison Nagel recorded her first career double-double as the senior forward netted 10 points and grabbed 12 rebounds. Nagel finished with 10 points despite finishing just 3 of 13 from the floor. SMSU struggled in the second half as the Mustangs shot 8 of 32 (25.0%), including 2 of 13 from behind the arc.

Southwest Minnesota State shot 65.5 percent in the second half to open a 10-point halftime lead and cruised to an 80-53 victory over Notre Dame de Namur (Calif.) on Friday. Rebekah Rolling led the Mustangs with 15 points on 7 of 12 shooting, while Bree Holleman added 12 points, seven assists and five rebounds. Alison Nagel added 12 points for the Mustangs with teammate Hope Bonlander coming off the bench to score 10 points and grab seven rebounds. SMSU finished the night shooting 52 percent (33 of 64) from the field and held a 40-34 rebound advantage. The Mustangs finished the game with 22 assists and committed just eight turnovers.

OPPONENT?AT?A?GLANCE
SOUTH?DAKOTA?SCHOOL?OF?MINES - The Lady Hardrockers are an independent NCAA?Division II?team that transitioned from the NAIA division following the 2011 season. Last year the Hardrockers finished the season 14-11 overall, including wins over Nebraska-Kearney and Black Hills State. SMSU?defeated the Hardrockers last year 71-55 at the R/A Facility on Feb. 5. Krista Showalter and Alexis Long lead the SDSMT?offense as each is averaging 7.8 points per game. Barb Felderman is in her 33rd year as head coach. Felderman guided the Hardrockers to 11 appearances in the NAIA National Tournament, including Final Four appearances in 1998 and 1999.