SPEARFISH, S.D. – The Black Hills State University women's basketball team picked up their second home win of the young season on Thursday night in A2 Arena with a 70-62 victory over Minnesota Crookston thanks to a 20-5 scoring run to begin the fourth quarter. Spearheaded by Morgan Hammerbeck who poured in a career-best 27 points in the contest, she was joined by seniors Haylee Weathersby and Kalla Bertram, as the trio combined for 62 of the team's 70 points.
 
QUICK DETAILS
Score: Black Hills State 70, Minnesota Crookston 62
Team Records: Black Hills State 4-2, Minnesota Crookston 1-4
Attendance: 1,823
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Black Hills State and Minnesota Crookston went back-and-forth in the opening stages of the first quarter, which saw the Golden Eagles hold a 7-6 edge following driving layup by Riley Jenkins with 6:53 on the clock. After the layup the Yellow Jackets scored six straight, including a pair of layups by Kalla Bertram to give BHSU the 12-7 advantage. The Green & Gold led the remainder of the opening quarter, leading by as many as five on multiple occasions, including a layup with 21 seconds to play as Bertram dished the ball off to Haylee Weathersby on the drive to the basket, making it a 19-14 advantage.
• A 7-2 run to start the second quarter by Minnesota Crookston knotted the game up at 21 apiece with 7:43 to play till the break as Emma Miller connected on a turnaround jumper a step inside the paint. Morgan Hammerbeck, however, had a response for Black Hills State as she scored five straight with a layup after finding space around the left corner after a taking a pass from Bradie Schlabs and then the next possession she hit a left wing three pointer off an assist from Bertram to make it a 26-21 score. UMC cut the lead back down to one point on a pair of occasions, but the Yellow Jackets stretched the advantage out to eight, the largest lead of the first half, as Hammerbeck knocked down another left wing 3-pointer with just three seconds left off a bounce pass from Schlabs to make it 37-29 at halftime.
• After two minutes of scoreless basketball, Minnesota Crookston opened the third quarter scoring with a 12-0 run capped by Miller's second 3-pointer of the night from the left wing, assisted by Hope Dudycha to give the Golden Eagles their first lead since the opening period at 39-37 with 6:12 left in the third. Black Hills State eventually put an end to their scoring drought at the 4:54 mark of the period when Schlabs knocked down a step back jumper from just inside the 3-point line on the left wing to even he game at 39 apiece. Each team notched six more points in the final minutes of the period as they ended the frame tied at 45.
• Starting with a tough layup between a pair of defenders by Weathersby as she collected a pass from Bertram, Black Hills State scored the first six points of the fourth quarter to jump out to a 51-45 advantage. The Yellow Jackets then pushed their run to 20-5 as they built their largest lead of the match-up with another layup by Weathersby as she snagged a pass from Schlabs on the right block and finished the play to make it 65-50 with 2:45 remaining in the game. Miller refused to let the Golden Eagles go down without a fight as they clawed back within single digits as she knocked down a trio of 3-pointers, helping UMC post a 12-5 run to bring the final score to 70-62.

BLACK HILLS STATE STATISTICAL LEADERS
Morgan Hammerbeck: 27 points, 8-of-8 free throws, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals
Haylee Weathersby: 19 points, 9-of-14 field goals, 8 rebounds, 1 steal
Kalla Bertram: 16 points, 4-of-5 free throws, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 block, 1 steal
 
UP NEXT
Black Hills State concludes a stretch of five consecutive games against NSIC non-conference opponents as they are set to face Southwest Minnesota State in a 6 p.m. match-up in A2 Arena on Friday, November 22.
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