SPEARFISH, S.D. - Black Hills State sophomore guards Bailey Kusser and Chelsey Biegler combined to score 20 points a piece on the night to finish off the final game of the year versus rival Chadron St. to help the Yellow Jackets win on Senior Night, 58-42, extending their wining-streak to four games.
Seniors Morgan Mines (6-0 Banner, Wyo.), played in her 100th game and Joey Painter (5-9 Buffalo, SD), also a national rodeo champion for BHSU, both were sent off on a good note with a big victory to end the season.
Yellow Jacket head coach, Mark Nore, enjoyed watching has his team finished the year with a 11-11 (.500 average) record in RMAC play (12-14 overall).
"You love to your team playing basketball at the end of the year, and we are doing that. I know these kids believe and ultimately that's what it comes down to, believing and having the confidence. It's just awesome to see them end like this," Nore said.
The four wins to end the season were over RMAC sixth-place ranked Colo-Christian, at fifth-place CSU-Pueblo, at third-place UC-Colo Springs, and tonight versus the Eagles.
Biegler and Kusser had 15 field goals between them including six three-pointers (four by Kusser) as they combined for the 40 of the 58 points. The next highest scorer on the night was sophomore Calli Bechtel with six points while going 4-for-4 from the free throw line. Bechtel was a terror on the glass by finishing the night with a game-high 10 rebounds.
The Yellow Jackets defense established their lead early as they held a 10-point lead at the half, 26-16, the second-lowest half time outputs by the Eagles this year. CSU's leading scorer, Katie Ranta, was held to just six points on 3-of-12 shooting in the first half. The Jackets had 11 more rebounds than the Eagles as they pulled down 41 to the Eagles' 29, which allowed them to capitalize on 10 second chance points.
BHSU pushed their lead to 21 points as Kusser hit a three-pointer shot with roughly 13 minutes to go in the game. CSC's Ranta did eventually get back on track as she scored 11 points in the second half as the Eagles made a run of their own that saw them come within eight points with 5:54 left to go.
That was all the motivation the Yellow Jackets needed as they went back to their full court pressure defense that helped them gather seven steals on the night and push the lead back up to 14 points, as they stayed in control of the game all 40 minutes. CSC never led at any point in the game.
BHSU's second half not only included the pressure defense but they shot 52.2 percent on 12-of-23 shooting and were 4-of-5 from beyond the arch. As a team the Eagles shot 27-percent on the night on 15-of-55 shooting with while the BHSU perimeter defense was just too much as they were 3-of-10 shooting from three-point range.
During the Jacket's season ending four-game win streak, they outscored their opponents by an average of 8.25 points and won the rebound battle 150-131 and averaged 8 steals per game during the streak.
Bielger ended the season as the RMAC's second leading scorer while averaging 17.3 points per game. Sophomore forward, Logan Cowan, finished the year shooting 56.4 percent, ranked third overall in the RMAC. Bechtel also shot the ball well this year as she finished with a 50-percent average from the floor, which was good for sixth overall in the conference.
