COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – After falling behind by 21 points, the Black Hills State University women's basketball team made a frantic comeback, but fell short in an 84-71 loss at the University of Colorado Colorado Springs Friday night.
The loss snapped a six-game winning streak for the Yellow Jackets (19-5, 16-4 RMAC) and drops the Green and Gold from a three-way tie for first place in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference and into the third position in the standings with two games remaining.
A fast-paced first half saw UCCS (18-8, 14-6 RMAC) jump out to a 53-34 lead at halftime, then extended the lead to 21 points on the opening basket of the third quarter. However, from that point on, the third quarter belonged to the Yellow Jackets, scoring 25 points and cutting the deficit down to five points.
With 1:16 remaining in the quarter, Remi Wientjes made a pair of free throws for the 61-56 score as the Green and Gold appeared to have the momentum in the game. Her free throws concluded a 12-1 Yellow Jacket run that began with a Bailey Kusser 3-point basket.
However, a pair of Mountain Lion 3-point baskets sandwiched around a Rachel Erickson trey, gave UCCS a 67-59 lead at the end of the third quarter
The Mountain Lion lead would immediately get cut into on back-to-back Yellow Jacket baskets to open the final period. Cheyanne Balster hit a jump shot then Erickson sank a layup for the 67-63 score with 9:12 remaining in the game.
From there, Jen Vigil sank a 3-point basket and Brittany Hernandez, the RMAC Preseason Player of the Year, showed her offensive prowess as the Yellow Jackets could not carry the momentum into a lead, and falling 84-71.
Hernandez scored a game-high 32 points for the Mountain Lions, including 13-of-13 from the free throw line.
Kusser led the Yellow Jackets with 17 points while Balster added 16 points with Erickson scoring 14. Kassidy Scott had a team-high nine rebounds.
Black Hills State continues its three-game road stretch to close out its regular season Saturday with a 5 p.m. tipoff at MSU Denver.
