LAKEWOOD, Colo. – Despite a 19-point effort by Rachel Erickson, the Black Hills State University women's basketball team dropped its second game of the season to Colorado Christian University on Saturday night, 74-68.

The Yellow Jackets fall to 2-2 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference and 8-2 overall, while the Cougars claim their first RMAC win to improve to 1-3 and 3-6 on the season.

The Yellow Jackets got off to a slow start, as the Cougars took a 10-0 lead in the first quarter. Remi Wientjes ended the CCU run knocking down a three-pointer followed by Keely Bertram hitting a jumper at the top of the key to bring the Green and Gold within five.

Towards the end of the first quarter, Colorado Christian increased its lead up to 12 with 36 seconds remaining until a foul put Cortez Standing Bear at the line. Standing Bear knocked down both free throws to bring the Yellow Jackets within 10 to trail, 22-12.

Within the first two and a half minutes of the second quarter, BHSU cut into the Cougar lead to trail by six at 23-17. However, CCU was not giving up easily though, as they ran the lead back up to 10 at 29-19.

In the final minute and half of the second quarter, Alyssia Martinez hit a layup under the net to bring the Green and Gold within five at 33-28. The Cougars grabbed the last shot of the half to lead by seven, 35-28.

After halftime, the Yellow Jackets came out hot grabbing their first lead of the game. Julia Seamans started the 8-0 run for the Green and Gold hitting a shot from downtown followed by Erickson draining one in from beyond the arc. Katie Messler hit the last shot of the run to give BHSU a one-point lead at 36-35.

From there, the Green and Gold managed to get up to a five-point lead at 45-40, but were unable to hold onto it, as the Cougars closed out the third quarter with a 51-50 lead.

In the fourth quarter, Black Hills State tried to rally back in the final two minutes of the game, as they came within three points off a Bertram three-pointer. However, within the final 40 seconds, the Yellow Jackets managed to grab two steals and capitalize on it, as Bertram and Erickson each scored. It was not enough though, as Colorado Christian was able to grab the win and defeat BHSU, 74-68.

Erickson finished with 19 points going 41.2 percent (7-of-17) from the field and 57.1 percent (4-of-7) from the line. Seamans scored 14 points while Bertram had 11.

On defense, Messler grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds. The Yellow Jackets slipped just past the Cougars on rebounds, 35-34.

Black Hills State returns back home for their final three games of the year before returning to action in 2018 hosting Regis University and Chadron State on Friday, December 15 and Saturday, December 16. Tip off is slated for 5:30 p.m. on Friday and 4 p.m. on Saturday.