Black Hills State University held another home bout against MSU Denver on Saturday afternoon, falling to the Roadrunners in a tough 61-52 matchup at the Donald E. Young Center.
 
The Yellow Jackets (16-5, 11-4 RMAC) went 19-of-49 from the floor and 4-of-18 from beyond the arc while knocking down 10-of-12 from the free throw line. This matchup was a defensive slugfest for both teams: BHSU held five blocks, a season-high, six steals, and 24 rebounds. MSU Denver, however, held 33 rebounds on defense and a dozen steals.
 
Niki Van Wyk found a way to tie her single-game high of 21 points against the Roadrunners tonight, going 7-of-11 from the field and was 50 percent from three. Van Wyk also held an 80 percent mark from the charity stripe. On defense, Van Wyk led the Yellow Jackets with five defensive boards while recording a block.
 
Ellie Moore was the other double-digit offensive player for BHSU, raking in 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting from the field and a 3-of-3 mark at the free throw line. Van Wyk led the team with two blocks while recording a single steal.
 
Both teams came out hitting shot after shot to start the game as four lead changes and three tying scores drew up a 13-12 ball game at the 4:42 mark in the first quarter. MSU Denver began to slowly pull away shortly after, taking a four-point lead by the end of frame number one.
 
The Roadrunners returned to the court in quarter two with a jumper to extend their lead to 22-26, but a 9-3 on shots from Van Wyk and layups from Weathersby tied the game 25-all with 3:42 left in the half. Despite getting the game tied back, MSUD was able to put up a 6-1 rally that was topped off with a layup inside of the final 10 seconds, taking the game into the second half at a 31-26 lead.
 
MSUD continued where they left off in the first half with a 6-0 run to stretch their lead to 37-26. BHSU was able to get the turnovers in the quarter as they forced three turnovers and a steal, but they struggled to connect their shots from the floor up to the halfway point.
 
Both teams went cold until Alessia Capley connected on a layup at the 3:44 mark, which kicked off a 5-0 run to bring BHSU back to a single-digit deficit. Following a Roadrunner three, another Van Wyk layup and a Capley trey kept inching BHSU closer, but the Roadrunners continued to keep the Yellow Jackets at arms-length with another three and layup. An MSUD free throw ended the third quarter with BHSU down 45-38.
 
Van Wyk got BHSU on the board quickly with a three-ball from the top of the key, but the Roadrunners held another 7-2 run to keep BHSU down 52-43. BHSU was able to put up points from the charity stripe as the game entered the final three minutes, but the Roadrunners continued to log enough offensive production to keep BHSU from surmounting the deficit.
 
Up Next
BHSU hits the road for a pair of weekend matchups next week, tipping off against UCCS on Friday, Feb. 10 at 5 p.m. before turning to Regis on Saturday, Feb. 11 for a 4 p.m. tipoff.