SPEARFISH, S.D. – A career-high 16 points from Jaylen Ostenson and a season-best 16 points from Ellie Moore wasn't enough as the Black Hills State University women's basketball team (14-8, 11-7 RMAC) fell, 77-62, to the Rangers of Regis University (20-5, 15-4 RMAC) Saturday evening inside the Donald E. Young Center.
 
The Rangers controlled the opening tip but it was the Yellow Jackets who would score first. Ostenson (Fr., Newcastle, Wyo.) would score the first four points of the contest, collecting an offensive rebound in the first two possessions of the game. Regis would then respond with five-straight points of their own to take the early 5-4 lead. It would be a quarter of runs as the Yellow Jackets would take an 8-5 lead with a four-point spurt heading into the media time out. The Yellow Jackets used five offensive rebounds in the first quarter to hold a 14-11 lead after the first 10 minutes of play.
 
Regis hit a 3-pointer to start the second quarter to quickly knot things up at 14-14 with that turning into a 7-0 run in the first three and a half minutes of the second quarter. By the second media time out of the contest, it was Moore (Gr., Phoenix, Ariz.) who led the team with six points of 3-for-3 shooting and three rebounds as Regis held a 20-16 lead. Moore continued to steal the show as the scored the first four points out of the break as BH looked to keep pace with the Rangers, as she became the first to reach the double-digit mark on the game. Back-to-back-to-back deep balls for the Yellow Jackets would give them a 29-26 advantage, forcing Regis to want to talk it over with three minutes to play in the half. The barrage would continue as four-straight possessions would result with a made 3-pointers for Black Hills State, as all their made deep balls in the half came in the second quarter. The first free throws of the evening for either side came at the 1:45 minute of the second quarter, as Gracie Haneborg (Jr., North Platte, Neb.) as she extended the BH lead to five points, 33-28.
 
The first half saw a combined 17 offensive rebounds between the two sides, but it was BHSU with a 20-17 edge in total rebounds. Moore and Ostenson led the scoring attack with 10 points each, Moore shooting a perfect 5-for-5 in the first half. Moore also led the team with her four first half rebounds, three of them being offensive.
 
Moore started the scoring in the second half with a lay-up, being the go-to person for the Yellow Jackets on the day. The half started with four-straight points, building up a nine-point lead. The Rangers would put up seven-straight points to cut the lead to 41-39 BH, before Kaycee Groves (R-Fr., Faith, S.D.) ended the run with a bucket of her own. Regis had cut it to a one-point game, 43-42, by the media break. It would be a battle the rest of the third quarter, going back and forth with neither side taking a lead larger than four points. The Rangers would push their lead up to six points within the final minute, but Kalla Bertram (Jr., Colome, S.D.) would knock down a deep ball in the far corner to cut the deficit to three, 55-52, heading to the fourth quarter.
 
Two minutes into the final quarter, Regis held a 58-54 lead but less than a minute later would be extended to 61-54 as offensive rebounds aided the run for the Rangers. However, a breakaway steal and lay-up from Alessia Capley (Gr., Arvada, Colo.) stemmed the Ranger push. Trailing by eight with three minutes to play, Capley converted once again to try and start a Yellow Jacket rally. The Rangers seemed to have answer for any BH push, pushing their lead up to as many as nine points late. With a minute left, BH took their chances at sending the Rangers to the free throw line. Converting at the line, Regis would leave Spearfish with a 77-62 victory.
 
GAME NOTES

• Jaylen Ostenson puts up a career-high 16 points in the effort, shooting 7-for-15 from the floor.
• Ellie Moore also added 16 points in the effort, marking a new season-best on 7-for-8 shooting.
• Morgan Hammerbeck was the third Jacket in double-digit scoring with 10 points (4-for-5) shooting.
• Moore grabbed a team-high six rebounds, while Hammerbeck added a team-high three assists.
• With the loss, BHSU falls to 11-7 in the RMAC with two regular season weekends remaining (four games).
• Regis and BHSU split the regular season series, each winning on the road.
• BH falls to 13-8 all-time against the Rangers.

Up Next: Black Hills State will hit the road for a Fort Lewis (12-12, 9-9 RMAC) next Friday with tip-off slated for 4:00 p.m. from Durango, Colorado.