GUNNISON, Colo. --- The Western Colorado women's basketball team attempts to make the RMAC Tournament finals for just the second time in the program's history as the third-seeded Mountaineers take on seventh-seeded Black Hills State 7:30 p.m. Friday at Lockridge Arena in Golden, Colorado. The winner will face the winner of top-seeded Colorado School of Mines and fourth-seeded Colorado Mesa 7 p.m. Saturday.

The only time the Mountaineers have made it to the finals of the RMAC Tournament was 2012 where they lost to Fort Lewis 87-78 in the championship game. It's also the only other year a Western women's basketball team has won an RMAC Tournament game.

MOUNTAINEERS HEADING INTO THIS WEEK | SEASON STATS
Western Colorado won its first postseason game in nine years on Tuesday, defeating sixth-seeded South Dakota Mines 77-69 at Paul Wright Gym. The Mountaineers took the lead in the second quarter after outscoring the Hardrockers 23-6 in the period to take a 40-26 lead at the half. SDM didn't go away and tied the game twice in the second half, but the Mountaineers pulled away late. Hannah Cooper filled the stat sheet with 16 points, eight assists, five steals and three blocks while Samantha Coleman had 16 points, Jadyn Kanzler and Courtney Humbarger each had 11 and Mikaela Parker finished with 10. 

Western - which has played much of this season without two starters and is now down three healthy starters - remains second in the RMAC in scoring at 68.7 points per game while allowing 61.6 points per contest - fourth in the RMAC. The Mountaineers lead the RMAC in 3-point percentage at 37 percent (11th in the nation) while hitting 6.9 per game - tied for fifth in the conference. 

Cooper continues to lead the team in scoring at 16.7 points per game while also averaging 4.8 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 1.6 steals. Wagstaff is second on the team in scoring at 13 points per game while leading the team at 5.9 rebounds per game and in 3-point percentage (43.1 - fourth in the RMAC and 27th in the nation). Coleman is averaging 12.8 points, 3.1 rebounds and 1.4 steals while shooting 40.6 percent from 3-point range (fifth in the RMAC). In the post, Mikaela Parker continues to have a breakout senior season in the absence of injured all-conference player Katie Dalton, averaging 9.3 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.1 blocks.

BLACK HILLS STATE HEADING INTO THIS WEEK | SEASON STATS
The Yellow Jackets knocked off No. 2 Westminster 71-66 on Tuesday in Salt Lake City. BHSU jumped out to a 19-7 lead after the first quarter, led 40-23 at the half and still led 55-40 heading into the fourth quarter before the Griffins made a last run to cut it to two points at 68-66 with 10 seconds left before the Yellow Jackets went 3-for-4 at the line to put the game away. Racquel Wientjes led BHSU with 22 points while Megan Engesser had 13 points.

The Yellow Jackets are ninth in the RMAC in scoring at 64.8 points per game while they are third in points allowed at 61.5 (just 0.1 points better than Western). BHSU is third in the RMAC in turnovers forced per game at 18.3 while it is second in turnover margin at plus-3.71.

Wientjes enters the game second in the RMAC in scoring at 19.3 points per game and - much like Western's Cooper - gets to the free throw line plenty, third in the RMAC in free throw attempts (115), free throws made (99) and free throw percentage (86.1 percent). She's also averaging a team-best 6.0 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 2.2 steals and 0.6 blocks. Engesser is second on the team in scoring at 11.5 per game while avering 3.8 rebounds and 1.1 steals. Morgan Ham is averaging 8.6 points and 2.9 rebound on a team that has 10 players averaging 10.5 or more minutes per game (all of which have played 16 or more games this season).

EARLIER THIS SEASON VERSUS BLACK HILLS STATE
The Mountaineers and Yellow Jackets opened the season against each other in Gunnison with Western coming out on top 81-74 after outscoring BHSU 26-18 in the fourth quarter to pull away in what was a tight game throughout. Cooper had a career-high 34 points (tied for the fourth-most in program history) to go along with 10 rebounds, five assists, two blocks and a steal (she went 15-for-16 from the free-throw line). Wagstaff had 15 points in her first game as a Mountaineer while Taytem Coleman had 12 points. Ham led the Yellow Jackets with 27 points while Wientjes had 19 points and seven rebounds.

WESTERN COLORADO NOTES

- MOUNTAINEERS NO. 2 IN LATEST REGIONAL RANKINGS
The Western Colorado women's basketball program sits at No. 2 in the latest West Regional Rankings, only behind Colorado School of Mines. The RMAC is in the West Region this season with other conferences opting out on the season. Westminster is No. 3 followed by Azusa Pacific, Hawaii Pacific, Point Loma, Colorado Mesa and MSU Denver.

Six teams from this region will make the NCAA Tournament and play their regional March 12-15 in Grand Junction.

- WAGSTAFF BREAKS 3-POINT RECORD VS. ADAMS STATE, TIES FOR SIXTH ON SINGLE-GAME SCORING LIST
Junior Emmery Wagstaff broke the single-game 3-point record while tying for sixth on the single-game scoring list with her performance against Adams State on Feb. 20. She went 9-for-14 from 3-point range - breaking the record of seven that was tied by three different players (including current teammate Samantha Coleman) - and finished with 33 points, tied for sixth on the Western all-time single-game points list.

- S. COLEMAN BREAKS MOUNTAINEER ALL-TIME 3-POINT RECORD, REACHES 1,000-POINT MARK
Senior Samantha Coleman against Colorado School of Mines on Feb. 13 with three 3-pointers broke the Western Colorado women's basketball all-time record for 3-pointers in a career of 181 set by Brooke Pendergraft (2008-12). Coleman now has 195 3-pointers and counting.

Coleman became the ninth player in Western history to reach 1,000 career points as she has now has 1,059 points. She's chasing Jade McIntosh (2011-15) and her 1,126 career points for the No. 8 spot.

- ERICKSON MOVES TO SEVENTH ON MOUNTAINEERS' ALL-TIME ASSIST LIST
Senior Jessie Erickson is now seventh on Western's all-time assist list with 264 - eight behind the No. 6 spot of Cindy Gosage (272 - 1980-82). Lauri Nickolaus holds the all-time career mark with 400 set from 1983-87.

- WESTERN SETS NEW MARK FOR BEST UNDEFEATED AND ONE-LOSS START IN PROGRAM HISTORY
In defeating South Dakota Mines 79-72 on Jan. 4 , the Mountaineers went to 5-0 and set a new mark for the best undefeated start in program history - previously set by the 1980-81 team (4-0). While a Jan. 5 loss to the Hardrockers broke that streak, the Mountaineers at 10-1 after a win over Colorado Mesa at home on Feb. 9 have moved past the 1980-81 team for the best one-loss start in program history.

- ELEVATED SUCCESS FOR MOUNTAINEERS AT HIGHEST COLLEGIATE GYM IN THE WORLD SINCE 2019-20
The Mountaineers are 20-3 at Paul Wright Gym - the highest collegiate gym in the world at 7,723 feet - since the start of the 2019-20 season.

- WESTLING MOVING UP MOUNTAINEER WINS LISTS, REACHES 100 CAREER WINS AS A HEAD COACH
Lora Westling even in just her fifth season at the helm of the Mountaineers has already cemented herself as one of the winningest coaches in program history. Her 66 career victories is third in program history, behind James Hahn (113 - 1982-92) and Phile Swille (69 - 1978-82). Her 54 RMAC wins is second in Western history, only behind Hahn (62).

Westling has led the Mountaineers to back-to-back winning seasons - the first time the program has accomplished that since James Hahn did it in 1985-86 and 1986-87.

As a head coach overall, Westling reached the 100-win mark this season with a win over Colorado Mesa on Feb. 9 at Paul Wright Gym.

WESTLING'S HEAD COACHING CAREER

Season	School	Record	Conf.
2013-14	Illinois College	12-11	10-8
2014-15	Illinois College	14-10	11-7
2015-16	Illinois College	12-11	9-9
2016-17	Western Colorado	7-19	6-16
2017-18	Western Colorado	9-19	6-16
2018-19	Western Colorado	16-11	12-10
2019-20	Western Colorado	20-7	18-4
2020-21	Western Colorado	14-4	12-4
OVERALL	----	104-92	84-74
AT WESTERN	----	66-60	54-50
AT IC	----	38-32	30-24

- WESTLING NAMED WHOOPDIRT.COM COACH OF THE WEEK (DEC. 14, 2020) - (RELEASE)
Western Colorado women's basketball coach Lora Westling was honored for her team's performance during the week of Dec. 6-13 by being named the WHoopDirt.com Coach of the Week.

The week for the Mountaineers included an 84-69 win at home against Fort Lewis on Tuesday before defeating MSU Denver 67-51 on Saturday on the road thanks to outscoring the Roadrunners 29-9 in the fourth quarter. With the honor, Westling is now eligible for the WHoopDirt.com National Coach of the Year Award.

- COOPER NAMED RMAC OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK (DEC. 9, 2020) - (RELEASE)
Western Colorado's Hannah Cooper was named the RMAC Women's Basketball Offensive Player of the Week for the week of Dec. 9, 2020, after averaging 25.5 points, 7.5 rebounds and 5.5 assists in a pair of wins for the Mountaineers. This includes a career-high 34 points to go along with 10 rebounds, five assists, two blocks and a steal to help the Mountaineers defeat Black Hills State on Friday. She went 9-for-15 from the field and 15-for-16 from the free throw line. The 34 points is tied for the fourth-most in Western history and the most points a Mountaineer has scored in a game in 23 years while her 15 made free throws tied a school record.

This is Cooper's first career RMAC Player of the Week honor and Western's first since Samantha Coleman earned RMAC Offensive Player of the Week on Dec. 2, 2019.

- THAT'S THE WAY TO START THE SEASON ... RECORD NIGHT FOR COOPER
It was quite the start to the 2020-21 season for Hannah Cooper as the sophomore from El Paso, Texas, scored 34 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and dished out five assists in the Mountaineers' win over Black Hills State on Dec. 4 in Paul Wright Gym. The 34 points is tied for the fourth most in Western history - behind Shannon Smart (41 versus Chadron State and 36 against Adams State - both during the 1992-93 season) and Laurie Nickolaus (40 against New Mexico Highlands in 1985-86). It's the most points a Mountaineers has scored in a game since Jen Knight scored 34 against NMHU in 1996-97. Cooper tied the school record for most free throws made in a game as well, going 15-for-16 from the line.

- DALTON SIXTH ON WESTERN ALL-TIME BLOCKS LIST
Senior Katie Dalton now sits in sixth place on the Western all-time blocks list with 68. Sitting in fifth place is Paula Stumbaugh (1980-84) with 78. Dalton can move up several spots on the list this season, but likely won't reach the school and RMAC record of 319 set by Kris Ellerby (1984-88).

- COOPER BECOMES FIRST WESTERN RMAC FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR IN WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Sophomore Hannah Cooper became the first Western Colorado women's basketball player in program history to earn RMAC Freshman of the Year since the conference started handing out the award in the sport in 1996-97. Cooper led the Mountaineers in assists (3.2) and steals (1.4), was second in scoring (9.7) and third in rebounding (4.3).

- MOUNTAINEERS PICKED TO FINISH SECOND IN RMAC (FULL STORY)
The Western Colorado women's basketball team was selected second in the RMAC Preseason Women's Basketball Coaches Poll. The Mountaineers - who picked up three first-place votes - finished behind defending RMAC champion Colorado Mesa in the preseason poll - the Mavericks getting eight first-place votes and 189 points total - while Western finished two points ahead of Westminster, which picked up four first-place votes. Westminster was followed by Colorado School of Mines, Black Hills State and then South Dakota Mines - the same exact order of finish the top six teams finished in the RMAC in 2019-20.

- MOUNTAINEERS IN SEASON OPENERS
The Mountaineers are now 14-29 all-time in season opener after their win over Black Hills State on Dec. 4 at home - their first time starting the season at home since 2006-07 when the Mountaineers beat Chadron State, 80-54. The Mountaineers are 7-5 all-time when starting the season at Paul Wright Gym.