Spearfish, S.D. – The Black Hills State women's basketball team couldn't hold onto a second half lead and fell to in-state rival South Dakota School of Mines 68-72 on Tuesday night.

"I thought we had great energy tonight and did all of the things that we needed to do to put us in the position to win," said head coach Mark Nore. "It was a tale of two halves; we held them to 24 points in the first half and let them get 48 points in the second half."

Chelsey Biegler led the Yellow Jackets with 22 points, going 7-of-14 (50 percent) from the floor, including 3-of-6 from behind the arc. Biegler also added seven rebounds and a team-high five steals.

Dakota Barrie led the Yellow Jackets with eight rebounds and netted nine. The Yellow Jackets shot 42.6 percent from the floor and shot 18-of-24 (75 percent) from the charity line.  

The Hardrockers had four players in double digits scoring, including, Olivia Antilla (16 points), Katie Strandholm (16 points), Hillary Hawkins (13 points), Alexis Long (12 points).

In the first half, the Yellow Jackets' defense held Mines to a 23.3 percent shooting percentage. Biegler recorded 13 points in the first half and BHSU outrebounded the Hardrockers 24 to 17. Barrie had seven rebounds in the first half alone. The Yellow Jackets shot 14-of-30 (46.6 percent) from the floor, but shot just one-of-eight from behind the arc. The Yellow Jackets led 35-24 at half.

BHSU was able to maintain a 10-point lead, 55-45, with 10:24 remaining. The Hardrockers began to claw back as they brought the deficit within one at four minutes. The Yellow Jackets went back-and-forth with the Hardrockers, exchanging free throws. The Hardrockers went up 70-66 with 13 ticks left and the Yellow Jackets fell 68-72.

"The team we have is young and we have to get use to practicing at that level of intensity. I thought we ran out of gas down the stretch," said Nore. "We played really well for 30 to 35 minutes, they made some plays down the stretch."

In the second half, the Hardrockers shot 50 percent from the floor, which was a 27 percent increase from the first half.

"I thought they left it on the floor, I am proud of them, but again it goes back to that type of pace and that type of tempo, that type of mentality," said Nore.

The Yellow Jackets will begin Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play with Western State at home on Nov. 30 at 5:30 p.m.