COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Despite an early tie midway through the first quarter, the Black Hills State University women's basketball team kept with their theme of taking control of the game early as they cruised to a 72-44 win at UCCS in a battle of 2-0 RMAC teams. The Yellow Jackets never trailed in the match-up, leading for a total of 38:07 of game time as they used a dominant 41-9 scoring run midway through the game to create separation as they shot 62.5 percent from the field compared to just 18.2 percent for the Mountain Lions during the nearly 19 minute stretch from late in the first quarter to late in the third quarter.
QUICK DETAILS
Score: Black Hills State 72, UCCS 44
Team Records: Black Hills State 7-3 (3-0 RMAC), UCCS 4-4 (2-1 RMAC)
Attendance: 324
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Black Hills State jumped out to a quick start in the road contest as Kalla Bertram grabbed her own miss and put it back up and in on a short jumper in the paint and then the ensuing possession she knocked down a pull up jumper from the free throw line for the first four points of the game. The Yellow Jackets would score the first six points of the game and then a transition left-wing 3-pointer by Morgan Hammerbeck off the assist from Gracie Haneborg made it a 9-2 advantage with 6:41 to play in the first. Late in period Breelyn Robinson connected on three consecutive 3-pointers to even the game at 15 apiece with 2:00 remaining. However, Bertram kept the Yellow Jackets in front, connecting on a turnaround jumper in the paint before Hammerbeck found Audrey Norville in the right corner for basket from beyond the arc with 51 seconds left on the clock. Bertram capped the scoring in the first quarter with a 1-of-2 trip to the charity stripe to make it a 21-15 advantage for BHSU. The Yellow Jackets built their lead in the opening frame with a 14-0 advantage in points in the paint in the first ten minutes of action as well as forcing six UCCS turnovers, three of which were steals by Bertram.
- Black Hills State starting to pour it on in the second quarter as Haylee Weathersby scored the first four points with a pair of free throws and a right-handed layup off an assist from Bradie Schlabs, which capped a stretch of ten unanswered points and pushed the lead to ten points (25-15) with 8:13 left in the second quarter. UCCS scored their lone points of the period with layups by Amyah Moore Allen with 6:31 on the clock and Amaya Snowden with 5:42 remaining. Starting with a pair of free throws with 5:22 left in the half and ending with a right-handed layup to beat the buzzer off an offensive rebound by Bertram, the Yellow Jackets scored 15 unanswered points to enter the break with a 42-19 advantage. Stretching from 2:00 remaining in the first quarter till halftime, Black Hills State went on a 27-4 scoring run during which they shot 9-of-15 from the field, 3-of-5 from 3-point range, and 6-of-8 from the free throw line, while UCCS was held to 2-of-17 shooting from the field and 0-of-6 from beyond the arc.
- While the Mountain Lions started the scoring in the third quarter with a right-wing 3-pointer by Gia Bradley off the assist from Maison White, however, a strong right-handed layup off the drive by Bertram kept the run and momentum going the way of Black Hills State. As the Yellow Jacket lead continued to grow it eventually reached its peak with back-to-back 3-pointers by Hammerbeck from the left-corner and left-wing off assists from Schlabs, giving BHSU their largest lead of the game at 32 points (56-24) and capping a massive 41-9 scoring run with 3:15 to play in the third quarter. The run which spanned 18:45 of game time saw the Yellow Jackets shoot 15-of-24 from the field, 5-of-9 from 3-point range, and 6-of-8 from the free throw line, while they held the Mountain Lions to 4-of-22 shooting from the field, 1-of-9 from 3-point range, and 0-2 from the free throw line. Robinson, who had the hot hand in the first quarter for UCCS, snapped the run with a right-wing 3-pointer off the assist from Moore Allen and helped the Mountain Lions end the quarter on a 9-2 run as they began to knock down a few shots and trim the BHSU lead to 58-33 entering the fourth quarter.
- With a deep left-wing 3-pointer off the assist from Sawyer Stoebner as the shot clock ticked down, Haneborg not only started the scoring in the fourth quarter, but she would score the first seven points of the period for the Black Hills State to make it a 31-point advantage (65-34) with 5:21 to play as she added a driving left-handed layup. With the Green & Gold once again playing lock down defense, UCCS was held without a made field goal in the fourth quarter until the 2:59 mark when Robinson connected on a shot from beyond the arc as Krystina Hagood found her in the right-corner. Emily Cooper ended the scoring in the contest for BHSU with 1:23 on the clock as Tess Rule found her for the 3-pointer on the right-wing to make it a 72-41 game. Making her sixth 3-pointer in the match-up and capping the scoring in the game was Robinson who got the friendly bounce on the deep ball off the dribble handoff from Bradley with 32 seconds remaining, bringing the final score to 72-44.
BLACK HILLS STATE STATISTICAL LEADERS
Haylee Weathersby: 14 points, 6-of-6 field goals, 4 rebounds, 1 assist
Gracie Haneborg: 14 points, 5-of-6 field goals, 2-of-3 3-pointers, 9 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals
Morgan Hammerbeck: 13 points, 3-of-4 3-pointers, 4 rebounds, 2 assists
Kalla Bertram: 13 points, 3-of-4 free throws, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 steals
Bradie Schlabs: 10 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists
UP NEXT
Black Hills State will stay in the Denver metro area as they visit Colorado Christian in the final game of the 2024 calendar year on Saturday, December 14, for the Yellow Jackets. The match-up with the Cougars is set for a 1 p.m. tip-off in the CCU Events Center in Lakewood, Colorado.
