By: Cody Bush, Associate Commissioner / Strategic Communications

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play begins for the league’s 15 women’s basketball teams this week as part of a two-week burst of league action.

Tuesday night’s Black Hills State-South Dakota Mines contest kicks off the 2024-25 RMAC Women’s Basketball title race. It is the first of 30 RMAC games will dominate the schedule over the next 14 days.

Most of the league’s teams may be happy to see conference play start after battling through a tough nonconference slate league-wide. This season, RMAC teams are 30-58 against Division II opposition. However, the league has two teams with the toughest schedules in Division II this season, CSU Pueblo and Chadron State, and six teams among the Top 30 most demanding schedules in the division.

Lead Stories

CSU Pueblo’s Little Named WBCA/D2CIDA Division II National Player of the Week

On Tuesday, CSU Pueblo forward Alisha Little picked up her first WBCA/D2CIDA Division II National Player of the Week honor of 2024. She swept the RMAC Offensive and Defensive Player of the Week Awards on Monday after averaging 33.0 points, 10.0 rebounds, 7.0 steals, and 5.0 blocks per game in victories against Haskell and Northern New Mexico last week.

Tough Sledding In Tough Conditions

RMAC women’s basketball teams have not shied away from tough slates in the season’s first month as mentioned above. CSU Pueblo and Chadron State have played the two toughest schedules in Division II this season. The ThunderWolves Division II opponents are a combined 23-4 (.852 win percentage) while the Eagles opponents are 30-8 (.789 win percentage). Colorado School of Mines (10th), University of Colorado Colorado Springs (20th), Black Hills State (24th) and MSU Denver (29th) are also ranked among Division II’s toughest nonconference slates.

Tracking the Returning Awardees

• Returning RMAC Player of the Year Olivia Reed is out to a solid start in 2024, ranking second in the league in scoring (19.8 per game) and rebounding (11.4 per game). She also leads the league in free-throw percentage (.889) and is fourth in blocked shots.
• Meanwhile, Alisha Little, the reigning Defensive Player of the Year, leads the league in scoring (22.6), rebounding (11.4), and blocked shots (3.6). She has three 30-point performances this season, including a career-high 35 points against Haskell on Nov. 29.

Colorado Mesa Tabbed as RMAC Preseason Favorite

• After posting one of Division II’s top turnarounds, Colorado Mesa enters the 2024-25 as the preseason favorite in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference’s Preseason Women’s Basketball Coaches Poll. Colorado Mesa, which made the sixth-largest year-to-year improvement in Division II last season (10.5 games), was the top pick of seven of the league’s 15 coaches and scored 187 of a maximum of 196 points.
• University of Colorado Colorado Springs, which enjoyed Division II’s third-best year-to-year improvement last season (11.5 games), nabbed three first-place votes and 170 points to finish second in the poll. CSU Pueblo received three first-place votes and 160 points to finish third.
• Adams State was fourth behind that trio of teams, receiving a first-place vote and 153 points. The other top eight teams included Colorado School of Mines (152 points), Regis (150), MSU Denver (107), and Colorado Christian (103).

About the RMAC
The RMAC is a premier NCAA Division II conference located in Colorado Springs, Colo., with 15 member institutions. The RMAC sponsors 22 varsity NCAA sports and has produced 65 NCAA Division II national champions and 54 national runners-up since 1992.
 
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