SPEARFISH, S.D. – True freshman, Taylor Trohkimoinen, had a career-high 24 points and eight rebounds on Friday night to lead the Yellow Jackets as they picked up their eighth Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference victory in a row on Saturday night over the New Mexico Highlands Cowgirls.
While the Yellow Jackets led by double-digits most of the night, the Cowgirls nearly wiped away a 17-point Yellow Jacket lead in the closing 10 minutes of the game.
Trohkimoinen finished 6-of-11 (9-12 FT) to help her team establish a 65-49 lead with 9:42 left. NMHU used numerous defensive traps and a full-court press before the Jackets soon broke the pressure time-and-time again to secure the victory.
The win gives the Jackets their ninth RMAC win of the year, tying them for 2nd-place overall in the conference with Colorado State-Pueblo.
Junior guard, Chelsey Biegler, came back strong from missing the second half of Friday night's game to finish with 11 points and four rebounds before fouling out of the contest with 2:33 left. In total, three Yellow Jackets fouled out including Logan Cowan and Dakota Barrie, after a physical contest where 51 total fouls were called in the game.
Senior, Calli Bechtel, was the third Yellow Jacket to score in double-figures as she went 4-of-8 from the field for 10 points to go with five rebounds and three assists.
The leading scorer for the Cowgirls was Trish Simpson with 17 points and eight rebounds. NMHU had three more players score at least ten points including T.J Manson and China Smith who both notched 12 points as Jenny Johnson had 11.
As a team, the Jackets went 26-of-51 (51-pct) and made 8-of-16 three-pointers. NMHU shot 40.9-percent and had 39 rebounds to the Jackets' 36.
BHSU gained momentum from the free-throw line after reaching the bonus in the second half with almost 13 minutes to play before going 24-of-33 as a team (73-pct). NMHU meanwhile shot just 54-percent from the line (17-31 FT).
The next action for the Jackets will come on the road as they travel south to face UC-Colorado Springs (5-9, 4-6 RMAC) on Friday, Jan. 24, 2014 at 5:30 p.m.
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