GUNNISON, Colo. – Racquel Wientjes had a career-high 18 points, as the Black Hills State University women's basketball team defeated Western State Colorado University, 59-48, on Friday evening to open the 2019 portion of the season.   

Wientjes led the Yellow Jackets (9-1, 5-1 RMAC) with 18 points, while Morgan Ham and Lyndzi Rich each added nine points. Katie Messler pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds.

The Mountaineers (7-3, 3-3 RMAC) scored the first bucket of the game, but the Green and Gold then used an 18-0 run to take control of the game. Wientjes had seven of the points, while Ham scored all nine of her points in the run. BHSU led by 11, 18-7, after the first period of play.

Western outscored BHSU, 15-12, in the second quarter, with the Yellow Jackets turning the ball over six times in the period. However, with the visitor's fast start, the Green and Gold still held a 30-22 lead over the Mountaineers at halftime.

The Mountaineers scored the first four points of the second half, all on free throws, to narrow the lead to four points, 30-26. However, with 6:59 to play in the third quarter, Alyssia Martinez sunk a three-pointer, followed by a trey by Wientjes, to put the Yellow Jackets back up double-digits, 36-26. The rest of the quarter remained back-and-forth, with BHSU leading by nine, 50-41, entering the final period.

The Yellow Jackets outscored the Mountaineers in a low-scoring fourth quarter. BHSU scored nine points, while holding Western to just seven points for the second quarter of the game, and secured the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference victory, 59-48.

BHSU shot 40.7 percent from the field (22-for-54), while WSCU was 31.3 percent from the floor (15-for-48). The Yellow Jackets were 8-for-19 (42.1 percent) from beyond the arc, while the Mountaineers were 5-for-17 (29.4 percent) on three-pointers. BHSU was 87.5 percent from the charity stripe (7-for-8), while Western was 59.1 percent (13-for-22). The Green and Gold edged Western in rebounds, 36-34.  

Samantha Coleman led the Mountaineers with 14 points.

The Green and Gold will next take on Colorado Mesa University on Saturday, January 5. CMU are 6-0 in conference play, and will host BHSU beginning at 4 p.m.

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Black Hills State is located in the Northern Black Hills of South Dakota, sponsoring 13 NCAA sports with membership in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, the NCAA emerging sport of women's triathlon and NIRA rodeo. For all information regarding Yellow Jacket Athletics, please visit BHSUAthletics.com or follow us on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram @BHSUAthletics.

---BHSUAthletics.com---