GUNNISON, Colo. - The Black Hills State University women's basketball team (8-13, 7-10 RMAC) earned their eighth win on the season after beating Western State (2-19, 2-15 RMAC) on the road, 69-58.
After trailing at halftime, 33-29, the Yellow Jackets exploded for a 40-point second half on way to the 11-point victory to keep them in the hunt for the RMAC playoffs. Sophomore guard, Chelsey Biegler (5-10 Rapid City, SD), scored 41 percent of her team's points with 28 on the night while shooting 5-of-7 from the field and had 21 total trips to the free throw line, hitting 17.
Biegler went to the line more than Western St. as a team combined, who went 17-of-20 from the line.
Another import factor that helped guide the Jackets to victory was the continued development of sophomore forward, Logan Cowan (6-0 Highmore, SD) who notched a 17-point night on 6-of-7 shooting, with 11 of her points coming the second half. She is has now scored at least 14 points in five out of the last seven games - averaging 13 points per game in that span.
A steady performance by sophomore guard, Cassidy Kotelman, helped her contribute 10 points on the night with five rebounds. Dakota Barrie played the most minutes at 39, as she pulled down a game high seven rebounds.
Other quality minutes came from starter Calli Bechtel, who had six rebounds and two steals as sophomore guard, Bailey Kusser (5-9 Highmore, SD) and senior forward, Morgan Mines (6-0 Banner, WY), provided strong minutes off the bench for a combined 11 points.
The most active player for the Mountaineers was, Desiree Smith, who had 15 points on 3-of-13 shooting. Western St. shot 34 percent from the field as the Yellow Jackets went 17-of-36 shooting, good for 47.2 percent.
The aggressive style of play by BHSU led to the biggest statistical difference between the teams which came on the free throw line. The Yellow Jackets went to 33-of-45 from the line versus just the 20 trips by Western St.
BHSU now find themselves in ninth place in the RMAC with their next game comes vs. the seventh place Colorado Mines (12-11, 9-8 RMAC) on Friday, Feb. 15 at the Donald E. Young Center in Spearfish at 5:30 pm MT.
