SPEARFISH, S.D. – The Black Hills State University women's basketball team (16-9, 13-8 RMAC) downed the tenth-ranked squad in the South Central Region to take sole possession of sixth-place in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) with an 73-68 victory over the Colorado Christian Cougars (16-11, 12-9 RMAC) Friday night inside A2 Arena. Kalla Bertram dropped a career-high 27 points and 10 made field goals in the victory.
 
Black Hills State would lead by as many as six points late in the first quarter, but the Cougars would make a late push to knot it up at 16-16 at the buzzer. Haylee Weathersby (Jr., Glendale, Ariz.) notched an early six points in the first 10 minutes of play.
 
The second quarter proved to be another tightly contested frame between two teams fighting for RMAC tournament positioning. Late in the frame, both teams got sped up but it would be the Yellow Jackets who settled back down first, sparked by multiple steals from Bertram (Jr., Colome, S.D.) with her scrappy backcourt defense on the Cougar guards. Back-to-back 3-pointers for CCU would give them an eight-point edge with a minute to play in the half, but a jumper from Alivia Pautz (INFO) would chip back into that deficit. At the break, thanks to a four-point BHSU spurt, the Cougars would lead just 36-32.
 
Bertram led the Yellow Jackets with nine first half points, knocking down the only two 3-pointers for BHSU in the half (2-for-2), followed by Weathersby's six first quarter points. Kaycee Groves (R-Fr., Faith, S.D.) brought down three rebounds and Gracie Haneborg (Jr., North Platte, Neb.) dished out a pair of assists.
 
The Cougars were hot to start the second half, jumping back up to a seven-point lead with an early deep ball. Off in transition, Jaylen Ostenson (Fr., Newcastle, Wyo.) would knock down a 3-pointer and an offensive foul following would give the ball back to the Jackets. Bertram would pull BHSU back to within one score with a turnaround jumper in the lane, making it 43-41 with just under eight minutes left in the quarter. For most of the frame, the Cougars would maintain near a five-point lead. The Yellow Jackets would use the free throw line to pull within two points, 50-48, with two minutes to play in the third. Ellie Moore (Gr., Phoenix, Ariz.) earned a trip to the charity strike in the final seconds of the quarter to pull BHSU to 51-50 with that score holding heading into the final frame.
 
A deep ball out of the gates in the final frame gave the Cougars a 56-52 lead in the opening seconds of the final period. Midway through the quarter, Weathersby got back in the scoring column with a driving lay-up to pull within one and a Bertram steal, going coast-to-coast, would give BSHU their first lead since it was 27-25 in the second quarter with five to play in the contest. Colorado Christian would use an and-one to take a 66-64 lead and as the clock reached a minute left, the Yellow Jackets picked up another offensive foul. A Bertram 3-pointer would give Black Hills State the one-point, 67-66, advantage with just under a minute to play. After the Cougars took the lead, Moore with a beautiful reverse lay-up and the foul would put BHSU up 70-68 with 34.9 seconds to play. The Yellow Jackets would convert at the free throw line down the stretch, picking up the five-point 73-68 win.
 
GAME NOTES

• Kalla Bertram etches new career-highs in points (27) and made field goals (10).
• Ellie Moore notches her fourth-straight double-digit scoring game with 12 points, while Jaylen Ostenson also drops 12 points for her eighth double-digit scoring game of the season.
• Moore went 8-for-9 from the charity strike as the Yellow Jackets shot 70.8% from the free throw line (17-for-24).
• Moore also picked up her 19^th block of the season, now sitting T11th in the RMAC.
• Bertram, Gracie Haneborg, and Alessia Capley all bring down six rebounds to pace the team.
• Black Hills State doubled up the Cougars in steals (14-7), led by four from Bertram.  
• BHSU improves to 13-9 all-time against the Cougars, as the two teams split the season series with each defending their home floor.

Up Next: Black Hills State will conclude the regular season tomorrow evening with a 4:00 p.m. tip against the Eagles of Chadron State College (6-19, 4-17 RMAC) from A2 Arena.