GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – Julia Seamans' 16-point effort helped lead the Black Hills State University women's basketball team to a 56-53 victory over the Colorado Mesa Mavericks on Friday evening.

Black Hills State improves to 16-4 overall and 10-4 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, while the Mavericks fall to 15-5 on the season and 9-5 in RMAC action.

The Yellow Jackets had a slow start in the first three minutes of the opening quarter, as they trailed, 7-1, before Katie Messler hit the first shot for the Green and Gold to trail, 7-3. Julia Seamans followed suit, hitting her first three-pointer of the game to bring BHSU within one at 7-6 with 6:03 remaining in the first quarter.

From there, the Mavericks increased the lead back up to 11-6, but Seamans hit another shot from downtown to trail, 11-9. With 3:27 remaining, Seamans made a layup to put BHSU right back in it and tied the game, 11-11, and managed to close out the opening quarter tied up at 15-all.

Two minutes into the second quarter, the Green and Gold grabbed their first lead of the game with Seamans knocking down her third three-pointer of the night to go up, 18-15. Cortez Standing Bear grabbed a steal, drove coast-to-coast to lay it in, and gave BHSU a five-point lead over the Mavericks at 20-15.

That did not last long though, as Jaylyn Duran answered with a three-pointer to come within two and then knocked down two free throws to tie the game back up at 20. Duran hit one more shot from the line to go up, 21-20.

In the final two minutes of the quarter, Erin Reichle hit a shot from downtown to increase the Maverick lead back up to four at 24-20. Messler dropped two in from the line to bring it within two at 24-22, but Duran scored her 11^th point of the night, hitting a three to try to go into halftime with a 27-22 lead. However, in the last second, Remi Wientjes hit a buzzer beater three-pointer to head into halftime trailing, 27-25.

Keely Bertram came out hot at the start of the third, tying the game at 27-27. Kelli Van Tassel answered back though with a shot from downtown to take the lead back for the Mavericks, 30-27.

With four minutes remaining in the third, Hannah Cass went 1-of-2 from the line to cut in on the CMU lead at 32-30. From there, Lyndzi Rich tied the game yet again at 32-all, before Ma'ata Epenisa made a three-point play hitting a layup followed by a shot at the line to take the CMU lead back to 35-32. However, in the final minute, Remi Wientjes hit a shot from downtown to tie the game back at 35-all before Karina Brandon answered with a layup to end the quarter at 37-35.

In the fourth quarter, the Yellow Jackets trailed by eight with 5:43 remaining, 49-41. Rachel Erickson started a big 10-0 run for the BHSU that gave them the momentum to pull out the win hitting a jumper to cut in on the CMU lead. Haley Schneider came off the bench hitting a quick jumper to bring the Green and Gold within four at 49-45.

From there, Seamans and Erickson hit two big three pointers to conclude the 10-0 run and give BHSU its second lead of the game at 51-49. In the final two minutes of the game, Ma'ata Epenisa hit a jumper to threaten the Yellow Jackets lead, but Messler answered back to keep the lead, 53-50.

In the final seconds, Seamans made two big free throws to take the lead up to 56-51. Erin Reichle hit a buzzer beater shot at the end of the game but it was not enough, as BHSU claimed the victory, 56-53.

"We showed a lot of guts and heart tonight," said head coach Mark Nore. "That is a very tough place to play. The gals found a way to win and persevered through adversity."

The Yellow Jackets outshot the Mavericks, 21-16, in the fourth quarter. They went 37.3 percent from the floor, 31.8 percent from beyond the arc, and 50 percent from the line. BHSU grabbed 44 rebounds.

Seamans led the offense with 16 points, going 5-of-13 from the field, 4-of-10 from downtown, and 2-of-2 from the line. Erickson and Lyndzi Rich each finished with nine points, while Remi Wientjes had six.

Messler grabbed a team-high 11 rebounds on the defense.

Black Hills State returns to action on Saturday, January 27, taking on Western State with tipoff slated for 5 p.m.