(Spearfish, S.D.) - The Black Hills State University women's basketball team (7-11, 6-8 RMAC) found their 16-point lead they established early in the night disappear as the Regis University Rangers (7-11, 6-8 RMAC) clawed their way back to find themselves tied at 57-57 with 1:24 remaining in the game. The BHSU players stayed poise and confident as they played gritty defense in the closing minutes and made key free throws as the Yellow Jackets pulled out the victory by a score of 62-57.
"It came down to big plays, we needed a game like this where we could either step up or step down and I thought our players really stepped up," BHSU head coach, Mark Nore said.
"That Regis team beat us by 36 points the first time we played them, this just shows that they are staying to it and believing. They are starting to gain an identity," Nore said, "It was a big win to get us tied in that eighth spot in the RMAC."
Sophomore, Chelsey Biegler (5'10 Rapid City, SD) took an inbound pass with less than a minute left and dribbled down the length of the court with a defender on her back and went up strong with the layup and sunk it but was fouled in the process. She capped off the traditional three-point play to help give her team a 60-57 lead with only 37.7 seconds remaining.
The Rangers inbounded the ball on the ensuing possession as the Yellow Jackets quickly turned back into their first half form with smothering defense as sophomore guard, Dakota Barrie (6'0 Mountain Home, Idaho), came up with a huge swat on one of Regis' leading scorers, Tae'lor Purdy, which sent the ball flying into the hands of BHSU guard, Bailey Kusser (5'9 Highmore, SD), who was quickly fouled to stop the clock with only 16.7 seconds left. Kusser hit 1-of-2 free throws and senior guard, Morgan Mines (6'0 Banner, Wyo.) ripped down another tough rebound before time expired to seal the victory.
Biegler was back to her high scoring ways as she put up 24 points on the night on 8-of-15 shooting, including five made three-point shots. The second leading scorer for the night was sophomore forward, Logan Cowan (Highmore, SD), who dropped 17 points on the night, only two-points shy of her season high. Cowan ended the night with four rebounds and four steals on 28 minutes played.
"I thought Logan Cowan played a nice game for us tonight," Nore said.
Cowan is now averaging 13.3 points per game the last four contests.
The Yellow Jackets shooting percentage on the night was 47 percent on 23-of-49 shooting, while Regis shot 36 percent on 21-of-57 shooting. BHSU shot an impressive 53 percent from three-point range versus Regis' 46 percent.
The Yellow Jackets will host Metro State (13-6, 11-3 RMAC) tomorrow night for a 5:30 pm MT tip-off at the Young Center for a Throwback Night in celebration of BHSU's old colors of purple, white and gold. Wear your purple and Go Jackets!
