(Spearfish, S.D.) -- In their first time back to their home court since Jan. 5, The Black Hills State University (6-10, 5-7 RMAC) women's basketball team scrapped back from a slow start Friday night to fall short vs. UC-Colorado Springs (12-4, 9-3 RMAC), 66-52.

The Mountain Lions came out shooting a staggering 60 percent from the field and 5-of-9 from three-point range to jump out to a 25-9 start with 9:48 to go in the first half.  By the end of the half the Yellow Jackets made four three-pointers of their own, all coming by way of junior guard, Bailey Kusser (5-9, Highmore, S.D.).

BHSU head coach, Mark Nore, felt the success of the road trip helped lead to a slow start but was encouraged by his team in the second half with defense and the play of Kusser and her 17-point night.

"Defensively we just weren't sharp, we schemed probably a little too much, we have to keep it simple…we played pretty decent in the second half though."

"Kusser was huge there in the first half she stepped up and hit shots; it was nice to have her back."

The BHSU defense clamped down while only allowing one three-point field goal in the second half, compared to 7-of-12 in the first half alone by the lady Mountain Lions.

CSSU not only had a solid shooting night at 45 percent from the field, but they also out rebounded the Yellow Jackets 40-27.  One spark the Mountain Lions had was the play of their freshman guard Gabby Ramirez (5-2, Milliken, Colo.) who had a game high 29 points.

"Our shots were good in the first half, we were in a flow, we play a lot of screens to hit the shooter," Ramirez said.

As the second half progressed, the Yellow Jackets put on more defensive pressure with a full-court press and tighter man-to-man coverage on the guards with tough play late by sophomore guards Chelsey Biegler (5-10, Rapid City, S.D.) and Dakota Barrie (6-0, Mountain Home, Idaho).  UCCS had 16 turnovers on the night, with nine coming in the second half.

After a series of strong defensive stands and key rebounds and hustle plays from junior forward Calli Betchel (Rapid City, S.D.) and sophomore guard Cassidy Kotelman (5-10, Brookings, S.D.),  Kusser hit her fifth three-pointer of the game with 2:11 remaining and pulled within just 12 points after being down as much as 21 points earlier in the half.

"The good thing is we got another game tomorrow and we will learn from it and move on," Nore said.

Colorado State-Pueblo (11-4, 8-3 RMAC) comes to town to face BHSU for a 5:30 pm MT tip-off at the Young Center Saturday night.