CHADRON, Neb. -- December 14, 2017 -- Both Chadron State College basketball teams are hoping for improved performances this weekend when they visit long-time rivals South Dakota Mines in Rapid City on Friday night and Black Hills State in Spearfish on Saturday night.

The CSC men are 3-7 and the Lady Eagles are 3-6.  Both are 1-3 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference.

Both CSC teams played well while downing Colorado Christian at home on Monday, Dec. 4, but didn't have the clout to win at either Colorado-Colorado Springs or Metro State later in the week.  The women scored just 58 and 45 points in their games last weekend and the men were outscored 45 to 26 at the free throw line in their two outings.

Women's coach Janet Raymer said her team was sluggish against Colorado Springs, got off to a better start against Metro. But after holding a 38-33 lead early in the fourth quarter, the Eagles failed to score during the next six minutes.

Raymer added that the team's transition defense needs to improve.  

CSC men's coach Houston Reed said nearly all his players have been "on a roller-coaster" with their scoring, making it difficult to establish a rotation.  He also said the Eagles' 18 turnovers against Metro were a problem, but that they played hard and competed. 

"We're still trying to improve our execution," the coach noted.

Two of the three freshmen who have been regulars for the men's, forward Walker Andrew (shoulder) and guard Dru Kuxhausen (hip), may not be at full speed this weekend because of injuries. 

The South Dakota Mines women are 7-3 overall and 2-2 in the RMAC.  The men are 4-4 and 2-2.

Both Hardrocker quintets won at Colorado Christian last Friday night and lost at Colorado Mines the next night. The women's team has four players averaging in double figures, led by sophomore guard Cooper Courtney at 11.6 points.  The men have three double-digit scorers, paced by 6-1 Australian Jake Heath at 13.5 points.  He's sunk 25 of 39 three-pointers in the first eight games for a 64.1 percentage, the best in NCAA Division II.

The Black Hills State women were 8-0 before falling to both Colorado Mines (83-74) and Colorado Christian (74-68) last weekend in the Denver area.  Rachel Erickson, a 5-11 senior, leads the Lady Yellow Jacket in scoring at 14.4 points a game.

The Black Hills men are 4-4 overall and 1-3 in the RMAC.  Colorado Mines, now 10-0, thumped them 71-50 and Christian edge them 85-80 last weekend.  Three Jackets are averaging around 12 points a game, paced by Scotland native Fraser Malcolm, a 6-6 senior who is averaging 12.5 points and 7.8 rebounds.

While this weekend's game will wrap up the CSC men's team schedule prior to Christmas, the Lady Eagles will visit Sioux Falls University in eastern South Dakota on Tuesday night, Dec. 19. The Cougars have a 6-2 record entering a game at Southwest Minnesota on Saturday night.

There are just one junior and one senior on the Sioux Falls roster, but 5-8 sophomore Kaely Hummel is averaging 15 points and 5-10 freshman Jasmine Harris is averaging 13 points.