SAN ANGELO, Texas - Black Hills State women's basketball kicked off round two of the NCAA DII Regional women's bracket on Saturday afternoon against the No. 7 Lubbock Christian University, with BHSU falling to a tough LCU offense, 66-50.
 
The Yellow Jackets (23-8, 17-5 RMAC) finished 16-of-49 (32.7 percent) from the floor, 4-of-16 (25 percent) from three-point distance, and 14-of-18 from the charity stripe. As a defense, BHSU tallied three blocks and seven steals on the afternoon that helped create 13 Chap turnovers.
 
Danica Kocer and Kalla Bertram pointed the spearhead of the Yellow Jacket offense against LCU with 14 and 13 points, respectively.
 
Kocer finished 5-of-9 overall including a 2-of-4 look from beyond the arc while dishing an assist. Kocer also recorded a team-leading five defensive boards and a block in her 32 minutes of playing time.
 
Bertram recorded 4-of-6 shooting on the day and 5-of-7 from the charity stripe. She also finished with three defensive rebounds, a steal, and an assist.
 
LCU jumped out to an early 10-2 in the first frame, holding BHSU to an eight-point deficit through much of the quarter. An Engesser three-pointer brought the Yellow Jackets within five, but another LCU trey and freebie at the 2:11 mark kept the Chaps up by seven. Bertram, however, received a trip to the free throw line in the final minute of the frame and closed the gap to a 16-11 deficit.
 
Quick threes from the Chaps stretched the LCU lead to 22-11 to start the second as they kept BHSU at bay with more long-ball jumpers to lead by 13 at the 7:07 mark. Down the stretch, a layup from Hammerbeck and a pair of free throws from Kocer and Van Wyk sent the Yellow Jackets to the locker room down 33-21 at the end of the first half.
 
Following a jumper and a layup from Van Wyk and Kocer, a quick five-point burst from the Chaps stretched their lead to 40-25 as the clock hit the 6:23 mark in the third quarter. Both teams went cold for nearly two minutes until a one-of-two free throw trip from LCU broke the silence.
 
Back-and-forth scoring proceeded down the stretch, but the Yellow Jackets ended the quarter with a six-point series via a four-point play from Engesser and a jumper from senior guard Kammie Ragsdale, sending the 47-34 scoreboard to the fourth quarter.
 
Van Wyk began to heat up in the fourth as she locked in the first four points for the Yellow Jackets, but LCU continued to keep up the pressure with four of their own to keep the game from moving. Two three-point shots from Kocer brought the score to 58-46 but another six-point burst from LCU at the 2:45 mark effectively ended the game.
 
Bertram laid in another two-point bucket and Engesser knocked down the final points of the game from the charity stripe, ending game one of the second round in favor of LCU, 66-50.
 
Season Highlights
The Yellow Jacket women's basketball team completed their season with an incredible 23-8 overall record and were third in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference with a 17-5 record. Coach Mark Nore, BHSU's all-time wins leader in BHSU WBB history, completed his 21^st season as head coach of the Yellow Jackets with a 373-230 record.
 
This post-season marked the ninth time in 10 years that the Yellow Jackets made an appearance in the RMAC post-season tournament. Their NCAA DII tournament appearance was also their fourth time entering the tournament since becoming DII eligible in 2013.
 
Their 23-8 record following the end of the season is their highest win percentage since the school's integration into DII, with their 17-5 RMAC record being their highest conference percentage since the 2015-16 season.
 
This season also saw seven athletes don RMAC All-Academic status including an RMAC All-Academic Player of the Year (Danica Kocer), an additional All-Academic First Team Player (Megan Engesser), and five RMAC All-Academic Honor Roll students (Kalla Bertram, Summer Fox, Morgan Hammerbeck, Kammie Ragsdale, and Tyler Whitlock).
 
WBB saw Danica Kocer named to the CSC Academic All-District team while three Yellow Jackets were named to All-Conference status including Kocer, Niki Van Wyk (both named to First Team), and Ellie Moore (All-Conference Honorable Mention).