Black Hills State University Athletics

Black Hills State women's basketball hosted the No. 15/18 Colorado School of Mines on Friday night, falling to the Orediggers 72-58 after a hot start in the first quarter.
 
BHSU held a 39.6 percent look from the floor against CSM, but the tough Oredigger defense held BHSU to just one three-pointer out of 12 all night. The Yellow Jackets also held a 73.1 percent mark at the charity stripe.
 
Leading the Yellow Jacket offense was Haylee Weathersby: the sophomore forward 6-of-9 from the field and 4-of-5 on the free throw line. On defense, Weathersby led her team with six total rebounds, four defensively, and a single steal on the night.
 
Danica Kocer was the only other double-digit scorer for BHSU, with the RMAC Academic Player of the Year dropping eleven points on 3-of-6 shooting, including the Yellow Jackets lone three-pointer. Kocer was also 50 percent from the charity stripe.
 
A pair of Morgan Hammerbeck free throws and a layup from Danica Kocer put BHSU up 4-0 early, but the aggressive Oredigger offense hit a long trey to bring their score within one of the Yellow Jackets. BHSU began to slowly pull away from CSM with a 9-1 scoring run that was topped off by a Kocer trey, bringing the score to 21-10 with 2:47 left in the quarter. Not to be counted out, the Orediggers finished the quarter with a 7-2 run, however, now down 23-17 heading into the second frame.
 
Shots from the charity stripe helped the Orediggers close in on a 23-21 deficit, thanks to holding BHSU scoreless for over three minutes. A pair of free throws from Kocer put up the first points of the quarter for the Yellow Jackets at the 7:14 mark, with the senior later putting up another layup to give BHSU the 27-21 lead with six to go in the half.
 
Over the remaining five minutes, CSM slowly cooked up an 8-4 run before hitting a three-point buzzer-beater to end the half with a 32-29 lead.
 
The Orediggers opened the third with a trey from the right elbow, which turned into an 8-4 start to the quarter for CSM. CSM continued to push, later claiming a double-digit lead at 51-41 with 2:03 left in the third, but a Weathersby layup kept BHSU within single digits. A three-point play from Weathersby and another Oredigger three sent the game into the final quarter with BHSU down 56-48.
 
CSM played tough defense to start the quarter, holding BHSU to one point while scoring seven of their own to take a 63-49 lead over the Yellow Jackets in the first few minutes. The Yellow Jackets continued to fight down the stretch, but solid play from CSM's Megan Van de Graaf and Ashley Steffeck kept the Orediggers above BHSU, with the No. 15/18 Colorado School of Mines taking a 72-56 victory over the Yellow Jackets.
 
Up Next
BHSU returns to the Donald E. Young Center on Saturday, Feb. 4 for another home matchup against MSU Denver at 4 p.m.