SPEARFISH, S.D.—The Black Hills State University women's basketball team entered Saturday evening with arguably their toughest test of the season at hand. CSU-Pueblo topped out at #17 on the USA Today NCAA Division II Women's Basketball Coaches' Poll before they fell to Regis University 58-56 off a shot at the final buzzer on January 2.  The Thunderwolves suffered a 55-51 defeat to South Dakota Mines last night. 

CSU-Pueblo entered Saturday's date with 25 votes on the USA Today NCAA Division II Women's Basketball Coaches' Poll, and a #5 ranking on the D2SIDA South Central Region Poll. The Yellow Jackets looked to maintain their #2 spot on the RMAC standings and separate themselves from the Thunderwolves, who trailed the green and gold by one game. 

BHSU came up short against the Thunderwolves in a 65-64 OT nailbitter. The Yellow Jackets fall to 12-3, 9-2 RMAC while CSU-Pueblo improves to 14-3, 9-2 RMAC. 

CSU-Pueblo 65, Yellow Jackets 64 OT 

Dee Arietta made her presence known with three 3-point baskets to propel the Thunderwolves in the first quarter. However, BHSU prevailed with an 18-16 first quarter thanks to a multitude of big plays. 

Keely Bertram continued her stellar play with a steal and layup under the basket with 5:33 left in the first quarter to give BHSU an 8-5 lead. The Yellow Jackets stretched that lead to 13-8 when Christine Thorn drained a three-pointer at the 3:51 mark.

The Yellow Jackets experienced shooting woes in the second quarter as they only mustered 3-of-14 shots in the frame. The Thunderwolves maintained the lead for a majority of the second quarter until a Bailey Kusser three-pointer tied the game 27-27 with 2:04 left.

Jaszymn Johnson closed the first half with a pair of field goals to give the Thunderwolves a 31-27 lead at halftime. 

Three-pointers from Johnson and Mariana Lambert stretched the CSU-Pueblo lead to 41-32 with 5:51 left in the third quarter. The green and gold inched closer to the Thunderwolves from that point forward. A Bertram three-pointer, and Trohkimoinen layup at the third quarter buzzer narrowed the BHSU deficit to 45-43. 

BHSU regained the lead when Bertram notched her second three-pointer with 9:02 left in the fourth quarter to make the score 46-45. 

The Thunderwolves trailed the Yellow Jackets for the next five minutes until Ashley Piper registered a layup to give them a brief 51-50 lead with 5:11 left in the fourth quarter.

Both teams continued to trade blows until final buzzer. With CSU-Pueblo leading 59-57, Thorn drove the lane and drew a foul with 0:02 left in the contest. Thorn converted on both free throws to tie the game 59-59 after four quarters.

The opening two minutes of overtime saw neither time find the scoring column. BHSU struck first with a three-point cushion when Trohkimoinen (1) and Thorn (2) notched free throws to make the score 62-59 with 2:58 remaining in overtime.

The Thunderwolves and Yellow Jackets traded leads before Maddie Beagley was sent to the charity strip to shoot a pair for CSU-Pueblo. She converted on both to give the Thunderwolves a 65-64 edge. 

With 0:20 remaining, Chelsea Vallejos threw an inbounds pass to Trohkimoinen. BHSU head coach Mark Nore called a timeout after regaining possession. The Yellow Jackets used the clock and drove in for an unsuccessful layup at the final buzzer.

Thorn led all scorers with 15 points while Bertram grabbed eight boards. Piper registered a double-double for CSU-Pueblo with 10 points and 16 rebounds.

The Yellow Jackets will return to the Young Center on Friday, January 22 against MSU Denver. Game time is set for 5:30 p.m.