Black Hills State women's basketball hosted their first home matchup in the East/West Challenge on Friday night against the University of Sioux Falls, where they overcame a slow first half to defeat the Cougars, 62-53.
 
The Yellow Jackets (2-0, 0-0 RMAC) recorded a 41-point second half, which included a strong 22-point third quarter that gave them the lead back before the final quarter.  
 
The University of Sioux Falls Cougars (1-1, 0-0 NSIC) took advantage of good three-point looks that boosted their 50 percent mark in the first half but were held to 3-of-17 from range in the second.
 
BHSU's leading scorer on the night was Gracie Haneborg, who secured 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting and was perfect on two attempts at the charity stripe. The junior transfer pulled down four boards on the night, three coming offensively, an assist, and three steals.
 
Haylee Weathersby was the other double-digit scorer for the Yellow Jackets, with the former RMAC Freshman of the Year securing 10 points with 3-of-7 shooting in the paint. Weathersby sank 4-of-5 freebies and six rebounds in the 15 minutes she was on the court.
 
Ellie Moore came up big for the BHSU defense as she claimed the only two blocks from the BHSU defense, a single steal, and seven defensive rebounds against the Cougars. On offense, Moore tallied nine points on 4-of-11 shooting and a single free throw on the night.
 
Morgan Hammerbeck, and Kalla Bertram also posted nine points on the night to help lead the Yellow Jackets to victory.
 
Haneborg got things started with a quick, 18-second layup to take the first points of the contest. Though USF sank a three-ball in response, a jumper from Hammerbeck and a 2-of-2 trip to the charity stripe from Bertram gave the Yellow Jackets a 6-3 lead at the halfway point of the first frame.
 
A layup and-one from Weathersby kept BHSU on pace with the Cougars, but USF quickly caught up with a 5-2 burst that ended with a sunken free-throw to close the gap to 11-10. Bertram was fouled again, which granted her two more from the foul line, but another two-point scoop from the Cougars closed the first quarter of action with BHSU's lead thinning to a 13-12 scoreboard.
 
The Cougars opened the second quarter with nine unanswered, taking advantage of good three-point looks on offense to take a 21-13 lead with 7:25 to go in the half. Hammerbeck responded with a three piece of her own, but USF kept up with Yellow Jacket scoring to end the half with a 29-21 lead.
 
The Yellow Jacket offense grew hot in the third quarter after a jumper from Alessia Capley kicked off a monster 13-3 run for BHSU, leaving an openening for the Yellow Jackets to regain the lead at 34-32 with just over four minutes remaining. The Green N' Gold held USF to three points for the remainder of the frame, sending the game into the fourth with BHSU on top, 43-35.
 
Both teams went pound-for-pound in the final 10 minutes at the Young Center: USF clawed their way back to a one-point, 52-51 with 3:01 remaining on a three-point dime from Danielle Minsaas, but Moore would come up big in the final minute of competition as the six-foot forward posted five points and a key steal with 28 seconds left in the game. The final point of the contest came from another Moore point off a free throw to give the Yellow Jackets the nine-point victory to move to a 2-0 mark on the year.
 
Up Next
The Yellow Jackets return to the Young Center court on Saturday, Nov. 18 at 4 p.m. to host their second East/West Challenge contest against the Northern State University Wolves.