Black Hills State's lady Yellow Jackets (8-1, 3-0 RMAC) held off the MSU Denver Roadrunners in a commanding 74-56 victory on Friday night, tying their 8-1 start in the 2017-18 season.
 
The offense of BHSU was big time tonight against the Roadrunners, as nine Yellow Jackets left Denver with points tonight that included 18 bench points. Four double-digit scores were recorded tonight by Danica Kocer, Niki Van Wyk, Ellie Moore, and Alessia Capley, who all combined for 60.
 
Kocer led the offensive charge tonight, recording a 19-point night that saw her shoot 7-of-12 from the floor and 2-of-four from downtown as she also made all three free throws in her performance along with two rebounds and a steal.
 
Van Wyk and Moore were runners-up with 16 and 14 points, respectively. Van Wyk shot a 46.6 percent field clip that included a 33 percent mark from three-point range while Moore held a 54 percent shooting mark while she nabbed 5 defensive boards and recorded a block.
 
Alessia Capley had one of, if not, the best performances on the season against MSUD as she was only two rebounds short of a double-double. The graduate forward recorded 11 points on offense with a 44 percent shooting clip while she led the team with eight rebounds. She also recorded a pair of steals and a block of her own.
 
As a team, BHSU shot 46 percent from the field and 37.5 percent from three while making 10-of-13 free throws against the Roadrunners.
 
Both teams were quick to get on the board to start the game, with Kocer laying up a bucket before MSUD immediately responded with a three to give MSUD their only lead of the first half. A Morgan Hammerbeck three and Niki Van Wyk driving layup gave BHSU the 7-3 lead inside the first two minutes of the game that expanded into a 14-5 run for BHSU. Five Yellow Jackets recorded points for BHSU while the defense held four steals and a single block via Ellie Moore in the first quarter.
 
BHSU shooting cooled off at the 2:00 mark, allowing for the Roadrunners to slowly climb out of the hole created by the hot start from BHSU. However, a Niki Van Wyk three-pointer kept the Yellow Jackets with a double-digit margin over MSUD, with the quarter ending with a 12-point BHSU lead.
 
Van Wyk opened the quarter up with a pair of layups to extend the Yellow Jacket lead to 16 points, with the Roadrunners not adding any points to the board until the 6:28 mark where they connected a hook shot. MSU Denver began to chip away at the Yellow Jacket lead as they closed the gap to 33-23 with 4:56 to go in the half, but a pair of Roadrunner fouls gave BHSU three points from the charity stripe. A three-point play from Kocer capped the quarter off as a late layup from the Roadrunners closed the first half with a 43-28 BHSU lead.
 
At the half, all Yellow Jackets but one Yellow Jacket held at least one point in the quarter. BHSU had 16 points off the bench. In the first half, BHSU shot 53.1 percent from the floor and 50 percent from beyond the arc and holding a 66.7 percent clip from the charity stripe.
 
Back from the halftime break, Megan Engesser knocked down a three-pointer to which MSUD responded with a turnaround jumper to open the second half. Both teams traded a few two-point scores until a Kocer three-point shot gave BHSU a 51-34 lead with 5:55 to go in the quarter. The Roadrunners put up six points in the final three minutes, but BHSU still held the 59-42 lead heading into the final frame.
 
Although multiple turnovers on both sides caused for a slower start to the fourth quarter, BHSU started with a 9-4 run that was capped off by a Kocer three-pointer with 4:40 left to play, giving BHSU the commanding 68-46 lead. Two steals and two scores that included a three-pointer, as well as a trio of free throws courtesy of Kendra Parra gave the Roadrunners a quick seven points with 3:29 left in the quarter.
 
Despite that quick spurt, a Van Wyk layup and a successful trip to the free throw line for Kocer kept BHSU on top by 18 with the good guys coming out on top 74-56.
 
Up Next
BHSU heads to Golden, Colorado tomorrow night for a 5 p.m. matchup against No. 12 Colorado School of Mines.