PUEBLO, Colo. – Black Hills State University women's basketball completed their two-day road tour with an RMAC tournament rematch against CSU Pueblo on Saturday night, with the ladies coming out on top 56-49 to finish the weekend with a clean road sweep.
 
BHSU held a fast first half that saw them score 34 points, headlined by a 12-of-22 look from the floor and a 7-of-14 mark from three-point range while shooting 3-of-6 from the charity stripe. A rough second half, however, saw most of the points come from the charity stripe for both squads: BHSU was 16-of-20 while CSUP was 5-of-10 from the free throw line.
 
Overall, BHSU finished the game with a .357 overall shooting clip, a 35 percent mark from three, and a 73.1 percent look from the free point line. Danica Kocer held her first 20-point game of the season as she was 7-of-14 overall, 4-of-5 from three, and 2-of-6 from the charity stripe. She also recorded five rebounds and a steal.
 
Graduate Forward Ellie Moore held her own in a 13-point performance as she made 3-of-4 from the paint and 7-of-8 on freebies. On defense, Moore recorded two blocks and four steals, leading the team in both categories.
 
The Yellow Jackets roared out of the gate on an 11-0 run, holding CSUP scoreless while going 3-of-5 from the floor to start, including two treys from Danica Kocer and Kalla Bertram, a handful of free throws, and a layup from Ellie Moore.
 
The 4:32 mark finally saw a three-point shot from the Thunderwolves, setting the score to 11-3. While CSUP began to heat up with a layup and three-pointer, a Van Wyk trey kept BHSU up 17-8 inside of the final 90 seconds of the first quarter. Two more foul shots from CSUP ended the quarter with BHSU up front by seven.
 
Both teams opened the second with a two-point dish each, with each team slowing down until the halfway mark, where they each turned in quick points. CSUP went on a six-point run to take the game to a 23-21 scoreboard, but Kocer went into a three-point battle with the Thunderwovles to keep BHSU up front, making three in a row to put the Yellow Jackets back to a 32-24 lead. Hammerbeck notched the last score of the half with a layup at the 1:00 mark as CSUP missed shots on their final two possessions to end the half with a 34-26 BHSU lead.
 
The Thunderwolves scored a quick four points to close the gap to 34-30, with Summer Fox supplying the only points for BHSU early as she went 4-of-4 from the charity stripe, which kept BHSU up 38-32 halfway through the third quarter. The game went over two minutes without scores until BHSU fouls gave the Thunderwolves four points from the charity stripe.
 
CSUP turned in two layups to extend their scoring streak to eight points, which gave them their first lead of the game at 40-38 with 1:34 to go in the frame. A lone free throw from Kocer and a jumper from Van Wyk, however, gave BHSU their lead back at the end of the quarter at 41-40.  
 
Ellie Moore gave a boost to the Yellow Jacket scores: following a CSUP layup to start the fourth, she buried four freebies and dished a bucket from the paint to give BHSU some breathing room, with another layup from Kocer giving BHSU the 49-42 lead at the 4:48 mark. By the final media timeout, free throws nudged the scoreboard to read 50-45 with two minutes to go.
 
CSUP fouls kept providing point opportunities for BHSU down the stretch, which the Yellow Jackets took advantage of to stay ahead and eventually take the 56-49 victory against the Thunderwolves.
 
Up Next
The Yellow Jackets return to Spearfish for a quick turnaround matchup on Tuesday, Jan. 24 against South Dakota Mines. Tipoff for the "Break the Attendance Record" night is set for 5 p.m. at the Donald E. Young Center, with the game kicking off a four-game home stretch to end January play.