SPEARFISH, S.D.—The Black Hills State University women's basketball seemed to build confidence over the past couple games with a two-game winning streak. That confidence came crashing down with a 75-50 loss to Colorado Christian University at the Young Center on Saturday evening.

BHSU falls to 13-10, 11-8 RMAC while Colorado Christian University improves to 12-13, 12-7 RMAC.

Courtney Patterson set the tempo for BHSU out of the gates with seven points during the opening five minutes of the contest. The Yellow Jackets held a 9-4 lead with 15:25 remaining in the first half.

That was all the comfort BHSU received as the Cougars stormed back and took a 10-9 lead thanks to a Christina Whitelaw jump shot with 13:59 remaining in the first half. 

Colorado Christian followed that with a 10-2 run that gave them a 20-11 lead with 4:59 remaining in the first half. A pair of free throws from Chelsey Biegler and a Dakota Barrie three-pointer helped keep the Yellow Jackets within ten points during the latter stages of the first half. The score was 27-17 at the 2:17 mark.

That didn't last long as field goals from Claire Paxton, Whitelaw, and Kate Louthan helped the Cougars jump to a 35-19 halftime lead.

A pair of field goals from Logan Cowan and a layup from Taylor Trohkimoinen helped boost the Yellow Jackets within the first two minutes of second half play. This narrowed the score to 37-25 with 18:07 remaining in the second half. 

However, a 14-0 run on behalf of the Cougars that made the score 51-25 with 14:22 remaining sealed BHSU's fate.

The Yellow Jackets couldn't cut it within 20 points for the rest of the game. The 29 turnovers suffered by BHSU proved to be the nail in the coffin in a 75-50 loss.

Patterson led all Yellow Jacket scorers with 13 points while Claire Paxton registered 18 points for the Cougars.

BHSU will hit the road next Friday, Feb. 20 when they travel to Colorado State University-Pueblo. Game time is set for 5:30 p.m.