SPEARFISH, S.D. – The Black Hills State University women's basketball team upset regionally ranked No. 6 Colorado Mesa 64-56 on Friday night.

The Yellow Jackets got off to a 4-0 lead to set the momentum for the game. After winning the tip-off, Rachel Erickson dumped one in at 8:49 in the first quarter to get the first points on the board. Shortly after, Bryanna Adams fouled Taylor Trohkimoinen in the paint and sent Taylor to the line for two.

From there, the Mavericks pressured the Yellow Jackets and came within one point with 5:29 remaining in the first quarter. Erin Reichle made the three-point play making a layup and free throw to bring CMU within one at 6-5. By the end of the first quarter, the Green and Gold led by two at 14-12.

The Mavericks started strong in the second tying the game at 14-all with Nicole Archambeau landing one in from the side of the key. Erickson responded back with a layup to give the Yellow Jackets the lead back at 16-14. Archambeau rushed back down the court going coast-to-coast and laying it in to tie the game back up at 16.

From there, Erickson answered back with another layup to bring the score back to 18-16 for BHSU until Reichle dropped one in from beyond the arc to give the Mavericks its first lead of the game. The Yellow Jackets closed out the half at 34-29.

After the intermission, Cheyanne Balster came out hot making a quick basket after being dumped a pass inside from Erickson. The Mavericks, closing in on the lead, brought the score within four at 36-32 after Adams flung a pass out to Duran to drop one in for three.  

Halfway through the third, Kassidy Scott and Haley Schneider each dropped one in for two to increase the lead over the Mavericks at 42-36. CMU was not going down without a fight as Small hit two free throws with 2:05 remaining in the third to bring the score to 42-38. It was not enough though as BHSU closed out the quarter at 44-38 with two free throws by Cortez Standing Bear.

With 7:32 remaining in the game, the Yellow Jackets had a 10-point lead over the Mavericks. Reichle closed in as she dropped one in from downtown to bring CMU within seven at 49-42. Holding the Green and Gold off, Holly Brooks dropped one down to Ma'ata Epenisa for two under the basket to bring the score to 49-44.

In the final three minutes, the Mavericks pushed to slow the Yellow Jackets down as Adams hit her first shot of the night from the free throw line to come within three at 55-52. From there, the Yellow Jackets made a 5-0 run with Erickson hitting two from the line and Seamans nailing one from downtown to give the Green and Gold the push for the win at 64-56.

Black Hills State held the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference leading scorer, Bryanna Adams to just one point and she normally averages 20.1 points per game. Alongside holding off Adams, the Green and Gold held the Mavericks to their lowest score on the season at just 56 points. The Yellow Jackets went 40 percent (20-of-50) from the field and 80 percent (20-of-25) from the line while CMU averaged 39.6 percent from the field and 60 percent from the line.

Erickson led the Yellow Jacket offense scoring 13 points in 33 minutes of action. Erickson went 71 percent (5-of-7) from the field and 100 percent both from beyond the arc (1-of-1) and at the line (2-of-2). Alongside Erickson, Balster scored 11 points while Trohkimoinen had nine.

On defense, Trohkimoinen grabbed six rebounds, five defensive. Balster stole a career-high five steals.

"We really guarded well as a team tonight," said head coach Mark Nore. "They have a high potent offense and we took them out of a lot of their actions."
"Really proud of our effort and mentality. Great win verse a quality opponent."

The Yellow Jackets improve to 8-11 on the season and 8-7 in the RMAC while Colorado Mesa falls to 13-5 overall and 10-4 in conference action.

Black Hills State returns to action Saturday afternoon at the Young Center hosting RMAC opponent Western State. Tipoff is scheduled for 4 p.m.