SPEARFISH, S.D.—The second half of the season has treated the Black Hills State University women's basketball team well thus far.  Despite the Yellow Jackets only shooting 38.8 percent from the field against Fort Lewis College on Saturday afternoon, a well-balanced attack is what helped them prevail.

Leading the way for the Yellow Jackets was Taylor Trohkimoinen.  She notched 11 points and five rebounds to help the Yellow Jackets defeat the Skyhawks 59-52.

Black Hills State improves to 7-4 overall and 6-2 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. Fort Lewis drops to 6-5, 3-4. 

The first ten minutes of the first half was similar to a game of chess as each team kept trading baskets.  The score was tied 10-10 at the 13:17 mark thanks to field goals from Jennie Scharn and Rachel Erickson. 

The Skyhawks took a 13-11 lead at 10:11 of the first half when Mary Brinton converted on a field goal, and nailed a free throw.  The Yellow Jackets led the majority of the game from that point when Trohkimoinen sunk a three-pointer to give the Yellow Jackets a 14-13 lead at 9:51 of the first half. 

Despite the Yellow Jackets struggle from the field in the first half  (31.0 percent), it was clutch shots that put them over the edge.  Bailey Kusser and Trohkimoinen nailed back-to-back three point shots to extend the Yellow Jacket lead to 23-18 with 3:41 left in the first half.  

The Yellow Jackets took a 28-22 lead into halftime after Scharn converted on back-to-back free throws in the final minute.  

The Yellow Jackets controlled the tempo throughout the course of the second half, as they never surrendered the lead.  It all came down to the field goal percentage as the Skyhawks only shot 8-for-24 in the second half while the Yellow Jackets were 10-for-20 in that time span.

The closest the Skyhawks got within the Yellow Jackets was four points at 13:57 when Michelle Turner converted on a layup to make the score 35-31.  That was enough to fuel the Yellow Jackets when Dakota Barrie followed that up with back-to-back jump shots to extend the Yellow Jacket lead to 39-31 at 12:29 of the second half. 

The Yellow Jackets held their own for the rest of the contest, registering a 59-52 win to extend their win streak to three games.  

Trohkimoienen led the Yellow Jackets with 11 points while Scharn, Kusser, Barrie, Chelsey Biegler, and Logan Cowan each scored eight points.

The Yellow Jackets will return to action on Tuesday, Jan. 6 when they take on South Dakota School of Mines at home.  Game time is at 7 p.m.