PUEBLO, Colo. – The Black Hills State University women's basketball team falls in a valiant effort to No. 9 CSU-Pueblo ThunderWolves, 66-55 on Friday night.

Starting in the second quarter, the ThunderWolves kept the lead making a quick two-point layup by Lauren Heyn assisted by Tuileisu Anderson. That momentum allowed CSU-Pueblo to increase the lead by nine with less than eight minutes to go in the first half.

From there, the Yellow Jackets went on a 6-0 run to bring the score within three. Cheyanne Balster started the run grabbing a steal and laying it into the basket. Balster lands a second layup into the basket 30 seconds later to close the lead on the ThunderWolves. The final two points of the run came from Kassidy Scott on two free throws to trail 24-21.

In the final seconds of the first half, the Green and Gold trailed by three points. Julia Seamans nails a buzzer beater from downtown to knot the game at 29 heading into the intermission.

Heading into the fourth quarter, the Yellow Jackets kept their momentum as they took a quick four-point lead. Balster started the momentum with a quick basket from downtown to give the Yellow Jackets a three-point lead but the ThunderWolves followed that up with a two-point layup shot by Heyn.

Kassidy Scott grabbed a rebound off of a missed free throw by Balster to lay it up for two to increase the lead by three again. Taylor Trohkimoinen made 1-of-2 from the line to give the Green and Gold their four-point lead within the first two minutes of the fourth quarter. However, it was not enough to overcome the attack of the ThunderWolves.

Rachel Erickson tied her season-high of 15 points shooting 6-of-13 from the field, 2-of-2 from the line and 1-of-6 from beyond the arc. Scott was right behind with 11 points while Balster had nine.

On defense, Scott grabbed nine rebounds missing a double-double by one rebound while Balster grabbed seven rebounds and Sierra Toms and Trohkimoinen each had five.

The Green and Gold fall to 2-9 on the season and 2-5 in conference play while the ThunderWolves remain undefeated improving to 13-0 overall and 7-0 in the conference.
Black Hills State travels to Lakewood, Colorado to face Colorado Christian for the second time this season on Saturday afternoon. Tipoff is scheduled for 3 p.m.