The lady Yellow Jackets (7-1, 2-0 RMAC) played strong second and third-quarter basketball to take their sixth win in a row, defeating the UCCS Mountain Lions 58-42.
 
Morgan Hammerbeck led in scoring for the Yellow Jackets after she tallied 16 points in 28 minutes of playing time against the Mountain Lions. Hammerbeck was 7-12 from the field and 50 percent from long range while nabbing five boards and three assists.
 
Danica Kocer finished the game with ten points versus UCCS, logging in 27 minutes of playing time that saw a 66 percent clip from nine attempts at the charity stripe. Kocer also led the team in steals as she nabbed four of 11 total steals for BHSU.
 
Niki Van Wyk continued to be an efficient shooter for BHSU tonight after securing a team-leading 3-9 from beyond the arc that gave her nine points on the night. Alessia Capley, Tyler Whitlock, and Kalla Bertram all logged at least one three-pointer on the night, driving the BHSU total to 26.7 percent from the band.
 
As a defense, BHSU forced 18 turnovers for UCCS while recording 11 steals on the night.
 
The first quarter started with UCCS dishing the first floating layup in the game. BHSU later hopped on the board with a Kocer shooting foul that granted her two points from the free-throw line. 
 
The Yellow Jackets struggled to get their shots up in the beginning as they went 0-7 in the first four minutes of the contest, allowing for UCCS to start with a 6-2 run. A Van Wyk three at the 5:52 mark was the first bucket made by the Yellow Jackets in the game, bringing them to a 6-5 deficit.
 
Teams traded back and forth down to the final seconds of the quarter, with a Hammerbeck three-pointer tying the game 12-all heading into the second quarter.
 
A UCCS jumper opened the second frame up for the Mountain Lions to regain the 14-12 lead. Much the same as the first quarter, however, BHSU responded with an Engesser trip to the charity stripe that gave BHSU the 15-14 lead, all within the first minute.

The BHSU offense warmed up around the midway point of the frame as a pair of free throws from Ellie Moore and a three-point shot from Van Wyk extended the Yellow Jacket lead to 20-14. BHSU continued their run as they found their shooting rhythm while taking advantage of UCCS fouls to put points on the board.
 
An Engesser three and fast-break layup, which came courtesy of a Van Wyk steal, extended the Yellow Jacket lead to 30-18 with 2:28 to go, forcing a UCCS timeout. Bertram would put a three-point lid on the first half, improving BHSU's shooting percentage to a 32.3 percent clip as the squads left the court for the intermission.
 
Returning from the locker room, Van Wyk secured a three-point shot which was followed later by a Moore jumper to get the Yellow Jackets going fast. A Capley shot from downtown gave the Yellow Jackets a 20-point lead with 6:40 to go in the third, with UCCS struggling to get started as they were 0-3 at this point and 0-5 from three throughout the game. BHSU went on to dominate the quarter as they outscored the Mountain Lions 14-6 and forced six of their turnovers in this quarter.
 
Tyler Whitlock started the fourth quarter with a long-range jump shot to extend the Yellow Jackets lead to 50-27, with UCCS matching with a pair of layups and a successful two-of-two trip to the free throw line. The 19-point gap was extended on another trip to the charity stripe for Capley, who made both shots to bring the score to 53-33 with 5:50 to go in the game.
 
All of the starting five for the Yellow Jackets went to the bench inside of two minutes, with Bertram, Kylie Sanger, Alivia Pautz, Natalie Holte, and Haylee Weathersby closing the game out for the Yellow Jackets. UCCS continued to play to the bell, however, closing the final score at 58-42.
 
Up Next
Following the two home victories that kicked off their RMAC portion of the season, the Yellow Jackets move on to their first in-conference road games of the season. On Friday, Dec. 9, BHSU travels to Colorado for a matchup against MSU Denver before turning to Colorado Mines on Saturday, Dec. 10. Tipoff for both games is slated for 5 p.m.