*Come join Yellow Jacket fans in cheering on the BHSU Women's Basketball team in the 2014 RMAC Championship tomorrow night, Saturday, Mar. 8 @ 7:30 PM at Stadium Sports Grill located at 744 N. Maint St. with a LIVE webcast of the game. Pregame gathering will begin @ 6 PM.  Go Jackets!

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GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – The number-six seeded Black Hills State University women's basketball team defeated No. 2 CSU-Pueblo in the semifinals of the 2014 RMAC Shootout on Friday night to advance to the championship game tomorrow on Saturday, Mar. 8, at 7:30 p.m. from Grand Junction, Colo. 

The victory for head coach, Mark Nore, and his squad continues a tremendous run to close the season.  The Jackets have now once again made school history by making the conference title game for the first time in program history in just the first season the Jackets were eligible for post-season play upon becoming members of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. 

The Jackets are now on a 3-game win streak where they have won by an average of 13 points per game in that span as they enter the championship game versus the winner of No. 1 Colorado Mesa and No. 4 Regis. 

After having been defeated by the Thunderwolves of CSUP in the two previous match-ups during the regular season by double-figures each time, it was the Yellow Jackets who turned the tables on CSUP to take the 10-point victory in convincing fashion.  

Yellow Jacket junior guard and the team's leading scorer, Chelsey Biegler, broke through the often stout CSUP defense that has held her to six points per game in the two times the team's faced this year to score a team-high 17 points to lead the Jackets. 

Biegler was just one rebound short of a double-double performance after having grabbed nine rebounds while shooting 6-of-11 from the field that included 3 three-pointers.  Fellow junior guard, Dakota Barrie, played all 40 minutes for her team and nearly tallied a triple-double after scoring 10 points, nine assists, and six rebounds. 

The Jackets shot 50-percent as a team in the first half, while defending the Thunderwolves to make just nine field goals in the first half on way to a 30-26 advantage at halftime.  

The Jackets shooting remained sharp yet again for the second-straight game as they shot 47.8-percent in the second half to put them at 49-percent overall in the game after going 24-of-49 from the field.  The deep ball was also working for the Jackets as they shot 44.4-percent from beyond the arch after sinking eight 3-pointers on 18 attempts. 

Much of the success on Friday night can be attributed to controlling the ball, while leading nearly ever minute of the contest.  The lead rebounder to help lead the ball control effort was BHSU senior, Calli Bechtel, who pulled down 11 boards (9 defense, 2 offense) to go with six points in 32 minutes of action. 

The third Yellow Jacket to score in double-figures was true freshman, Gabby Haefs, who followed up her career-high 16-point performance in the first round victory over Fort Lewis with 11 points off the bench.  

Haefs' three baskets in the game were all 3-pointers and she went 2-of-2 from the free-throw line.  Starting junior forward, Logan Cowan, came back from a relatively quiet first round game to contribute a valuable 25 minutes as she went 4-of-8 from the field to score eight points with three rebounds and two steals. 

Overall, the Yellow Jacket defense remained tough all night long as they held CSUP to just 19 made field goals on 61 attempts (31.1-pct).  CSUP went just 4-of-20 (20-pct) from the 3-point line.  The trio of Paige Ramm, Alex Evans, and Jenay Locke scored 10 points apiece for the Thunderwolves to lead their team. 

The depth of the Jackets again proved to be an advantage as the jacket bench scored 22 to points, while CSUP's bench scored nine.

Below is an updated RMAC tournament bracket: