SPEARFISH, S.D. - It was a story of two halves on Friday night from the Young Center as the University of Sioux Falls Lady Cougars (2-0, 0-0 NSIC) used seven three-pointers in the second half to beat the Yellow Jackets, 75-70. 

The Jackets got off to a quick start and jumped out to an early 19-14 lead early on in the game to take a two-point lead into halftime, 34-32.  But it was the Cougars who came out after the break ready to shoot as they improved their shooting percentage from 34.3-percent to 40.6-percent in the second half, which included going 7-of-14 from beyond the arch in the second to help them secure the victory. 

BHSU did just the opposite after having an impressive first half where they shot 13-of-27 (48.1%) to then shoot 39.3-percent on 11-of-28 shooting by the end of the second half.  In total however, the Yellow Jackets did finish shooting almost 44-percent from the filed as a team in the game, while USF shot 37.3-percent as a team. 

Yellow Jacket junior guard, Chelsey Biegler, had a game-high 28 points after shooting 69.2-percent from the field on 9-of-13 shooting with three made three-pointers.  She also went 7-of-10 from the free-throw line and three rebounds.  Another strong performance was turned in by senior Calli Bechtel, who had 19 points after making six of her nine shots, including making three of her four three-point attempts.   

Junior guard, Shanna Halalilo, was all over the court after playing 30 minutes and nearly grabbing a double-double by game's end as she had eight points and nine rebounds (three offense, six defense).  Halalilo also had four assists and three steals to lead her team in those categories. 

The only player to never step foot off the court in the contest was USF shooter, Laura Johnson, who showed her range all night by finishing with a double-double, 20 points and 10 rebounds, which included going 6-of-12 from three-point range.  

While Johnson was the Cougar's most effective player with a big shooting night, USF led just one time in the first half and did not take their second lead of the night until a Johnson three-pointer put them up 46-44 with 12:56 left in the half.  

USF also had further production from Colorado State transfer, Taylor Varsho, who had 16 points and four rebounds as Jaicee Ulmer turned in 15 points and five boards.  Yellow Jacket senior and University of Arizona transfer, Lindsey Fearing, was welcomed back to get 14 minutes of action since roughly a year ago after working her way back from an injury.  

The Yellow Jackets (0-2, 0-0 RMAC) will get back on the court on Tuesday night versus rival South Dakota Mines with tip-off set for 5:30 p.m. MT.

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