LAKEWOOD, Colo. – Black Hills State women's basketball traveled for a 5 p.m. matchup against CCU on Wednesday night, defeating the Cougars 70-61 after solid performances in the third and fourth quarter, including a 19-7 fourth-quarter score.
 
The Yellow Jackets (21-6, 12-3 RMAC) finished the game with a 21-of-47 (44.7 percent) look from the floor, 7-of-18 (38.9 percent) from three, and 21-of-29 (72.4 percent) from the charity stripe. In all quarters but the second, BHSU shot 50 percent or better from the floor, also raking 11 of their made free throws in the fourth that helped them hold off the Cougars for the win.
 
Niki Van Wyk continues to lead the offensive charge for the Yellow Jackets after tallying 19 points. She led the team from beyond the arc as she drained 5-of-7 from downtown and made all four freebies during her 36 minutes on the court.
 
Danica Kocer was the second of both Yellow Jacket double-digit scorers as she logged 33 minutes against the Cougars. She laid down 13 points on 3-of-7 shooting and a team-leading seven free throws.
 
After exchanged scores led to a 5-5 scoreboard, an Ellie Moore jumper kicked off a 10-2 run to give BHSU a 15-7 lead by the 4:40 mark, a run that saw two Van Wyk triples and another layup via Haylee Weathersby. Down to the end of the quarter, however, the Cougars held BHSU to a single Kocer layup and lone Bertram freebie, securing an 11-point burst of their own to tie the game 18-all by the end of the first.
 
A quick four-point burst from CCU gave them the 22-18 to start the second quarter as BHSU continued to try and fight for the tie once again. Off a Kammie Ragsdale bucket, the Yellow Jackets brought it back to 29-27 before another quick burst from the Cougars kept CCU up 34-27 winding past the four-minute mark of the quarter. Following another CCU two-point shot, the game went scoreless for over three minutes until two Van Wyk free throws sent BHSU to the locker room, down 36-29.
 
CCU started the second half with a three-point play via Dasiya Jones, but a Van Wyk trey and layups from Ellie Moore and Danica Kocer (who converted into a three-point-play) brought BHSU back into a single-possession deficit. Another pair of Kocer free throws jumpstarted a 9-0 run in favor of the Yellow Jackets, ending the quarter with BHSU now up, 48-43.
 
BHSU continued to pour it on in the fourth as they owned another seven-point burst to expand their lead to 55-43 by the 6:55 mark. CCU, however, hit two triples to top off a 9-2 series to bring the scoreboard down to a six-point BHSU lead. Both teams dueled from the charity stripe in the final two minutes, with BHSU outscoring CCU 10-5 in this stretch to take the 70-61 victory in Lakewood.
 
Up Next
The Yellow Jackets wrap up the regular season on Thursday, February 23 with a road matchup against Chadron State at 5:30 p.m.