SPEARFISH, S.D. – Overcoming an 11-point deficit, the Black Hills State University women's basketball team upset #13 Fort Lewis College on Friday evening, 53-48.

Black Hills State improves to 12-4 on the season and 6-4 in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference action, while Fort Lewis falls to 15-2 overall and 9-2 in conference play.

In the first quarter, the Yellow Jackets landed on the board first with Rachel Erickson driving to the basket to get two and lead, 2-0. The Skyhawks answered back with Vivian Gray hitting Brianna Clah below the basket to lay it in for two points and tie it up 2-2. Keely Bertram regained the lead back for the Green and Gold hitting a shot from the top of the key to go up 4-2.

From there, Kelsey Wainright tied the game back up for the Skyhawks, 4-4. Fort Lewis took the lead back, 7-4, with Kayla Herrera knocking one down from beyond the arc. The Blue and Gold managed to hold on to the lead at the end of the first, 18-17.

In the first 30 seconds of the second quarter, Alyssia Martinez tied the game back up hitting a shot from the top of the key to notch it at 19-all. From there, the Skyhawks grabbed the lead back with Vivian Gray scoring a jumper and led by 11 at the end of the half, 34-23.

After halftime, the Green and Gold started to cut in on the Skyhawks lead. A free throw shot by Erickson and a layup by Hannah Cass brought BHSU within eight points, until Astrea Reed made a shot to take the lead back up to 10.

With 8:09 remaining in the third quarter, the Yellow Jackets went on an 8-0 run to bring the score within two points and set the pace for the rest of the game. The run started with Hannah Cass making 1-of-2 from the line, followed by Erickson scoring a layup. The Skyhawks ended the run with Reed dropping one in from downtown to take the lead back up to five, 39-34. From there, Erickson lit up knocking down a shot from beyond the arc to bring the score within two again at 39-37.

In the final minute of the third quarter, Reed hit one shot to take the lead back up to three at 40-37 but Lyndzi Rich scored a layup to trail by one at 40-39. In the last second of the quarter, Remi Wientjes hit a buzzer beater layup to give the Yellow Jackets their first lead of the game at 41-40.

In the fourth and final quarter, it came down to the wire. Remi Wientjes started it out making one of two shots from the line to take a 42-40 lead over the Skyhawks before Wainright drove the lane to tie it up.

From there, Cass scored down below under the basket to take the lead back for the Green and Gold and never gave it back up. Erickson had the last point of the game scoring one free throw to end it in the final 30 seconds and give Black Hills State the upset victory, 53-48.

"That was a huge team win for us," said head coach Mark Nore. "Rachel was a huge force for us in the second half. We had quality minutes from Hannah Cass and Alyssia Martinez. All out team defensive second half performance. A great defensive win."

The Yellow Jackets outscored the Skyhawks, 30-14, in the second half to claim the victory. They held Vivian Gray to zero points in the third quarter and just nine points through three quarters. The Green and Gold shot 39.2 percent (20-of-51) from the field, 22.2 percent (4-of-18) from downtown, and 47.4 percent (9-of-19) from the line.

Erickson lit it up, leading all scorers with 20 points. She went 7-of-13 from the floor, 3-of-6 from beyond the arc, and 3-of-5 from the line. Cass was right behind Erickson with nine points.

Katie Messler led the defense, tying her season-high with 12 rebounds.

The Yellow Jackets return to action Saturday, January 13 hosting Adams State University with tipoff set for 4 p.m.