GOLDEN, Colo. – Black Hills State took on the No. 12 Colorado School of Mines on Saturday night, falling to the Orediggers 75-47.
 
Going up against a tough Oredigger defense, who forced 25 turnovers, Alessia Capley led the offense in the matchup. She was three-of-five from the field and made both attempted free throws in her 17-minutes off the bench. Capley also led the team with 13 rebounds.
 
As a team, BHSU shot 31.9 percent from the field, 27.8 percent from beyond the arc, and 75 percent at the charity stripe. The defense recorded nine steals and forced 10 Oredigger turnovers.
 
Play opened up with both teams sinking a three-pointer in back-to-back possessions, with Morgan Hammerbeck knocking down the three for BHSU. After an exchange of two-point field goals, the Orediggers kicked off a 16-1 run at the 4:53 mark that stretched to the end of the first quarter.
 
BHSU was held to 2-of-12 from the floor and 1-7 from long-range, giving up nine turnovers versus a single Oredigger turnover in the first. Both teams held 12 rebounds each, but CSM held the advantage with five offensive boards that gave them six second-chance points in the quarter.
 
Megan Engesser put up the first points of the second quarter with a jumper to bring the scoreboard to 8-23.  Capley exchanged scoring possessions with CSM, putting up a layup and a floating jumper to keep pace with CSM. The Orediggers, however, did not slow down as they put up another seven-point spurt to maintain a 33-12 lead with 4:40 to go in the half.
 
Strong defensive play from CSM forced many Yellow Jacket turnovers down the stretch, with the Yellow Jackets putting up five points in the final two-and-a-half minutes of the half, heading to the locker room trailing 35-17.
 
Opening the second half, both teams traded scoring possessions, maintaining the Orediggers lead with Colorado Mines expanding the lead to a 25-point gap inside of the three-minute mark in the third. The Orediggers took the third quarter after outscoring the Yellow Jackets 22-16, with BHSU holding a 36.4 percent from the field and a 50 percent clip from three.
 
The Orediggers began the final quarter with five quick points before a Megan Engesser three put BHSU at a 62-33 deficit with 7:49 left in the game. At the 7:18 mark, however, CSM racked up another eight-point burst to close any comeback effort from BHSU. The quarter ended with a seven-point burst from the BHSU bench that included a pair of charity stripe shots from Summer Fox, a three-pointer from Natalie Holte, and a pair of free-throws from Alivia Pautz that helped BHSU end the game on a positive note. 
 
Up Next
BHSU returns home for a pre-holiday break matchup against the New Mexico Highlands Cowgirls on Friday, Dec. 16 at 5 p.m.