CHADRON, NEB.—The first test outside the Donald E. Young Center stood in front of the Black Hills State University women's basketball team on Friday evening at Chadron State College. Like BHSU, the Eagles opened their RMAC season with a victory when they edged Regis University 66-64 on December 3.

The Yellow Jackets entered Friday evening's contest with plenty of reasons to hold their heads high. Leading NCAA Division II in field goal percentage defense (28.3) and scoring defense (49.2) were among those reasons.

BHSU's stingy defense took effect once again in a 63-46 victory over Chadron State College. The Yellow Jackets improve to 5-1, 2-0 RMAC while the Eagles fall to 1-5, 1-1 RMAC.

Yellow Jackets 63, Chadron State 46

A case of bus legs were evident for the Yellow Jackets as they found themselves trailing 9-2 at the 3:21 mark of the first quarter. A quick layup from Cheyanne Balster followed by a three-pointer from Bailey Kusser narrowed the BHSU deficit to 9-7 with 2:31 left in the opening quarter.

Erin Graham drained a jumper for the Eagles to close the first quarter, making the score 11-7.

The Yellow Jackets took their first lead of the game when Bailey Kusser converted on a three-pointer, followed by a Jennie Scharn field goal to make the score 12-11 at the 8:22 mark of the second quarter. 

BHSU and Chadron State traded leads once before Julia Seamans gave the Yellow Jackets a 14-13 edge at the 6:59 mark of the second quarter. 

The Yellow Jacket defense went into overdrive from that point forward with a 14-6 run to extend their lead to 28-19 at halftime.

Rachel Erickson helped the BHSU defense pick up where they left off with a pair of steals within the opening minute of the third quarter. Balster added another steal at the 6:56 mark to help tame the Lions to a 35-25 margin.

Erickson contributed offensively with a three-pointer to pace BHSU's 15-8 run to end the third quarter, making the score 50-33. 

Erickson continued her dominance in the fourth quarter with a layup, free throw and a steal in the opening minute. This extended the BHSU lead to 53-33 at the 9:47 mark of quarter number four. 

The Eagles never got within less than 16 points as BHSU held onto a 63-46 victory.

Erickson registered a career-high 14 points to lead all scorers. Kusser added 12 points to round out BHSU players in double-figures. The Yellow Jacket defense tallied 13 steals, one block and 23 defensive rebounds. 

BHSU will return to action tomorrow, December 12 at Regis University. Game time is set for 3:30 p.m.