DURANGO, Colo. – The Black Hills State University women's basketball team (15-8, 12-7 RMAC) shook off a slow start in the first quarter to pick up the largest margin of victory this season with a 34-point win over the Skyhawks of Fort Lewis College (12-13, 9-10 RMAC) Friday night behind multiple team season bests.
A quick start for the home squad saw Fort Lewis open up a 9-2 lead in the first two and a half minutes of play. Opening up a 13-6 lead with five minutes to play, the Skyhawks held a 26-16 lead after the first 10 minutes of play in Durango.
The Yellow Jackets started on fire to start the second quarter with 15-straight points to surge into the 31-26 lead before Fort Lewis finally put a point on the board at the free throw line nearly five minutes into the frame. In the run,
Alivia Pautz (So., Phoenix, Ariz.) knocked down her first-career 3-pointer. Black Hills State would build up a seven-point lead at 34-27, as
Morgan Hammerbeck (Sr., Hamill, S.D.) knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers with
Kalla Bertram (Jr., Colome, S.D.) dishing out the assist in both buckets. It was a second quarter completely dominated by the Yellow Jackets, outscoring Fort Lewis 27-7 in the period to take their own 10-point lead heading into the halftime break.
Ellie Moore (Gr., Phoenix, Ariz.) led all scorers with her 14 points on 7-for-9 shooting from the floor. Hammerbeck put up eight points and led the team with three assists, while being tied with Bertram for the game-high four rebounds. Black Hills State shot 51.4% from the floor in the first half to charge back to erase the 10-point first quarter deficit.
A
Jaylen Ostenson (Fr., Newcastle, Wyo.) lay-up to start the second half extended the lead up to 12 points, their largest lead of the game at the time. A Bertram 3-pointer kept the pressure on the Skyhawks as the lead continued to grow. The Yellow Jackets kept getting easy looks at the basket and kept converting to keep the Skyhawks at arm's length. By the end of the frame, BHSU held a 17-point, 60-43, lead.
Black Hills State hit their season average early in the fourth quarter, taking a 68-43 lead with seven and a half minutes to play. The final half of the fourth quarter saw the Yellow Jacket bench get some ample game minutes as BH went on to take their 15
th win of the season with an 87-53 win over the Skyhawks, the most points scored in a game this season.
GAME NOTES
- BHSU set a new season-high in scoring in the win tonight with 87 points and a new season-best 56.3% FG% (36-for-64).
- The 34-point a victory also marks the largest margin of victory for the Yellow Jackets this season.
- It also marks the first time this season BH has put 20+ assists on the board with 21 assists as a team.
- The Jackets also shot 47.6% (10-for-21) from 3-point range in the win.
- Ellie Moore led all scorers with her season-high 18 points on 9-for-12 shooting.
- Kalla Bertram also added double-digit scoring with 13 points.
- Bertram brought down a game-high seven rebounds as the Yellow Jackets held a +20-rebounding margin over the Skyhawks (40-20).
- Morgan Hammerbeck dished out a game-high four assists, while Gracie Haneborg led the team with her four steals tonight.
- Alivia Pautz knocked down her first-career 3-pointer in the second quarter run.
- 12 of the 13 Jackets who saw minutes tonight put points on the board.
- The two highest scoring games this season for the Jackets have come against Fort Lewis (77 in January).
- With the win, the Yellow Jackets (12-7 RMAC) keep a hold on the sixth-place spot in the RMAC standings.
- Black Hills State wins their 15th-straight game over Fort Lewis, improving to 15-1 all-time over the Skyhawks and sweeps the regular season series.
Up Next: Black Hills State will take on the Grizzlies of Adams State University (20-7, 15-4 RMAC) tomorrow night at 5:30 p.m. from Alamosa, Colorado.
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