SPEARFISH, S.D.—The Black Hills State University women's basketball team returned to the road on Friday evening to face Colorado Mesa University. The Yellow Jackets are coming off a home stand that saw them finish 1-3.

BHSU defeated the Mavericks at the Young Center in an 86-81 2OT thriller at the Young Center on Dec. 6. The Mavericks gave the Yellow Jackets a taste of their own medicine this time around with a 65-57 OT victory.

The Yellow Jackets fall to 11-9, 9-7 RMAC while Colorado Mesa improves to 16-4, 13-3 RMAC.

Both teams failed to generate any offensive flair throughout the opening minutes of the first half.  Logan Cowan finally put a point on the board when she converted on a free throw to give the Yellow Jackets a 1-0 lead with 16:52 remaining in the first half.

Taylor Trohkimoinen sunk the first field goal of the contest on a three-pointer to extend the BHSU lead to 4-0 with 15:05 left in the first half. The Yellow Jackets took their largest lead of the game on a Logan Cowan layup to make the score 6-2 with 14:07 remaining in the first half. 

However, a field goal from Leanndra Gilbert and a pair of free throws from Ashley Stevens tied the game 6-6 at the 13:19 mark of the first half. After BHSU and CMU traded baskets to make the score 8-8, the Mavericks led for the balance of the first half. 

The Mavericks jumped to a 19-9 run to take a 25-15 lead with 4:02 remaining in the first half. BHSU showed signs of life to close out the half. A three-pointer from Bailey Kusser with 0:40 left in the first half generated a 7-5 run that narrowed the Maverick lead to 30-22 at halftime. 

Colorado Mesa opened the second half with a 10-5 run to take a 40-27 lead with 15:14 remaining in the second half. That was the largest Maverick lead of the contest.

That fueled the fire for BHSU as they responded with a 19-2 run led by three field goals from Cowan.

This gave the Yellow Jackets a 46-42 lead with 3:17 remaining in the contest.  A three-pointer from Laurin Rivera with 2:55 left in the game broke a 12-minute scoring drought for the Mavericks. This narrowed the Yellow Jacket lead to 46-45.

BHSU continued to hold the lead until 0:40 left in the contest when Erin Reichle sank a three-pointer to give the Mavericks a 50-48 lead. Reichle fouled Taylor Trohkimoinen on the ensuing possession. Trohkimoinen converted both her free throws to tie the contest 50-50 through regulation.

The Mavericks opened the overtime session with a 9-0 run and the Yellow Jackets never recovered.  Courtney Patterson put BHSU on the board in overtime with a layup with 0:56 left to narrow the Maverick lead to 59-52. 

BHSU was able to muster seven points during the final minute of overtime, but it wasn't enough as the Mavericks pulled away with a 65-57 victory.

Cowan led the Yellow Jackets with 16 points and seven rebounds.  Reichle's 22 points led the Colorado Mesa offense.

BHSU will return to RMAC action tomorrow, Feb. 7 when they travel to Western State University.  Tip-off is set for 5:30 p.m.