SPEARFISH, S.D.—The Black Hills State University women's basketball team embarked on their first NCAA Division II competition of the season at the Young Center on Wednesday night when Northern State University paid a visit. 

The Wolves won the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Championship last season before falling to Pittsburg State 60-53 in the first round of the 2014 NCAA Regionals. A new look Northern State team owns a 1-1 record prior to Wednesday night's showdown.

BHSU held the momentum for a majority of the game until a Paige Waytashek three-pointer cut the Wolves' deficit to 44-43 with 8:15 left in the fourth quarter.

The Yellow Jackets couldn't muster an answer for Northern State in a 52-49 loss. BHSU falls to 2-1, 0-0 RMAC while the Wolves improve to 2-1, 0-0 NSIC.

Northern State 52, Yellow Jackets 49. 

Bailey Kusser drained a jump shot and three-pointer to help give BHSU breathing room with a 7-4 lead at the 6:42 mark of the first quarter. The Yellow Jackets continued to widen their lead thanks to solid free-throw shooting.

Cheyanne Balster drained a pair from the charity strip and converted on a jump shot to widen the BHSU lead to 13-8 with 3:22 left in the first quarter before Northern State cut the margin.

The Wolves closed the first quarter with a 6-2 run to cut the Yellow Jacket lead to 15-14.

Jill Conrad sunk a jump shot at the 7:46 mark of the second quarter to knot the game 18-18. Lauren Deadrick sunk a free throw to give the Wolves a brief 19-18 lead with 7:11 remaining in the second quarter before BHSU took control of the momentum.

Kusser and Rachel Erickson each drained a three-pointer to pace an 11-6 Yellow Jacket run that gave them a 29-25 lead at halftime. 

The third quarter saw BHSU widen their lead as far as 35-27 at the 7:31 mark before the Wolves inched closer.

The daggar occurred in the fourth quarter when Waytashek drained a three-pointer with 8:15 remaining to make the score 44-43. Deadrick converted on her second go-ahead basket for Northern State to give them a 45-43 lead with 7:37 left in the fourth quarter. 

The Yellow Jackets found themselves trailing from that point forward, but displayed a fight during the narrowing minutes. A Christine Thorn three-pointer with 0:31 left gave BHSU a spark plug and narrowed the score to 51-49.

Thorn's foul with 0:05 left put Devon Brecke at the free-throw line. Brecke converted at the charity strip to make the score 52-49 before Rachel Erickson heaved an unsuccessful half-court shot at the final second. 

Kusser tied a season-high 14 points while Taylor Trohkimoinen led the rebounding efforts with eight.

The Yellow Jackets will take a two-week hiatus before they return to the Young Center on December 3 against South Dakota Mines. Game time is set for 5:30 p.m.