BILLINGS, Mont. – The BHSU Yellow Jackets improved to 4-1 after securing the victory on the road against MSU-Billings, outscoring the opposing Yellowjackets in the fourth quarter to take a 60-51 victory.
 
As a team, BHSU shot 41.2 percent from the field and 35.3 percent from the three-point range. Despite giving up 18 turnovers, the BHSU defense forced 21 on the MSUB Yellowjackets.

Danica Kocer and Niki Van Wyk split the scoring lead for BHSU after scoring 14-a-piece, with both players shooting a 45.5 and a 44.4 clip from the field, respectively. 
 
Alessia Capley held a strong performance tonight, hitting 40 percent of her shots that turned into eight points. She was one of two Yellow Jackets to tally a block on defense, with Megan Engesser claiming the other.
 
Morgan Hammerbeck led the team with six defensive rebounds against MSUB, also hitting three-of-five from the field to tally six points for BHSU.
 
The Yellow Jackets took possession of the tipoff and were quick to set up a Haylee Weathersby layup that scored the first points of the game. MSU Billings responded with a pair of layups of their own but Van Wyk tied the game back up again with a turnaround jumper to even the score at 4-all.
 
A layup and a pair of free throws gave MSUB a four-point lead until an Engesser shot from downtown closed the gap once again to just a single point. Both Yellow Jacket squads got cold, going over two minutes without scores until an Alessia Capley foul gave MSUB a point off the charity stripe, with the MSUB Yellowjackets heading into the second quarter with a three-point advantage.
 
After an MSUB layup opened the second, an Engesser three-point shot pulled BHSU into a 19-17 deficit. Shooting on both sides went cold again, with multiple turnovers and no scores on either side for nearly three minutes. BHSU turned the ball over six times but forced nine MSUB giveaways in the frame.
 
With 6:29 to go, MSUB broke the silence with a Dyauni Boyce layup that updated the scoreboard to a 21-17 MSUB lead. A Summer Fox free throw was the last point scored until the 3:17 mark, which saw an Alessia Capley layup that pulled BHSU within one.
 
A Hammerbeck defensive rebound led to another Capley layup to put BHSU in front with 2:34 left on the clock, but MSUB reclaimed the lead and ended the half on a long three in front of their bench.
 
Both teams turned up the heat inside four minutes of the third quarter as Kalla Bertram and MSUB's Aspen Giese sparked up-tempo play with a three-point shot and a jumper, respectively. A Van Wyk three brought the score to 37-35 with 1:26 to go in the third, but an MSUB layup capped off the third with the good guys down by four.
 
BHSU rolled into the fourth on the same momentum, keeping pace with MSUB in the first few minutes on exchanged layups, taking the score to 45-43 at the midway point. Out of the final media timeout, Kocer hit the tying score on an inbounding layup, but MSUB regained the lead with another three.
 
Kocer responded with her own three-point shot and a jumper-turned three-point-play to give BHSU the 51-49 lead with 2:30 left. Threatening to take the lead, MSUB missed a go-ahead long-range shot inside the final two minutes. Off the rebound, a Hammerbeck layup expanded the BHSU lead to 53-49.
 
Inside the final minute, four quick fouls on MSUB gave BHSU three points from the charity stripe to take a 56-51 lead. On the MSUB side of the court, Fox secured a steal on an inbound that proved to be the dagger needed to put away the opposing Yellowjackets. Two Van Wyk free throws capped off a 25-12 fourth quarter that earned BHSU their third victory in a row and their first road win of the season.
 
Up Next
After the Thanksgiving break, the Yellow Jackets head to Rapid City for a non-conference matchup against South Dakota Mines on Monday, Nov. 28 at 5 p.m.