Durango, Colo- Morgan Hammerbeck drops 22 as the Black Hills State Yellow Jackets dominate the Fort Lewis Skyhawks 61-43 to move to 11-4 (7-1 RMAC) in the Whalen Gymnasium. It was a bounce back win for the Jackets who lost their first RMAC game on Thursday versus New Mexico Highlands.
The Yellow Jackets never trailed in this matchup leading from 6-6 all the way to the end of the game. A gigantic 24-7 run from the end of the first quarter until the 30 seconds left in the half grew the Yellow Jackets lead to an insurmountable margin. The biggest keys to the game were better shooting from three and rebound margin. The Yellow Jackets went 6-21 from behind the arc tonight compared to 2-15 against NMHU. The Yellow Jackets also grabbed 50 rebounds, which was the most in any game this year. This compared to only 26 rebounds grabbed by the Skyhawks, which is close to lowest allowed in a game this season. The 43 points allowed by the BH was the lowest allowed by the Jackets all season.
GAME DETAILS
Score: Black Hills State: 61, Fort Lewis: 43
Team Records: Black Hills State: 11-4 (7-1 RMAC), Fort Lewis: 5-11 (2-6 RMAC)
Attendance: 338
HOW IT HAPPENED:
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Morgan Hammerbeck once again started the scoring with a two-point jumper 49 seconds into the game with
Haylee Weathersby matching her on the next drive with a layup to take a 4-0 lead with 8:44 to go in the first quarter. 2:27 later, we got our next field goal by Weathersby to make it 6-2. Two quick buckets by Fort Lewis's Natalie Guanella tied the game up at six.
Bradie Schlabs made a layup to take back the lead at 8-6 with 3:07 to go in the first, and only a
Morgan Hammerbeck layup with 1:17 to go was all the scoring left in the first quarter to give BHSU a 10-6 lead heading into the second quarter.
• Black Hills State continued their 4-0 run going into the quarter with an 8-0 run solely by Schlabs to start the quarter combining to make a 12-0 run to take a 18-6 lead with six minutes left in the half. Hammerbeck scored the next ten points for the Yellow Jackets to make it 28-13 with 2:40 left in the half. A pair of
Kalla Bertram free throws were the only other two points scored by the Yellow Jackets before the break to make it 30-16.
• The Yellow Jackets halftime leaders were Hammerbeck with 11 points, Schlabs with six rebounds, Bertram and
Gracie Haneborg with three assists each, and Schlabs and
Audrey Norville with a steal each. Guanella led in points (4), rebounds (4), and assists (2). Katie Lamb led the team with two steals.
• Haneborg made the first six points of the second half to give BH a 16-point lead, but Fort Lewis started chipping away a bit. The Skyhawks went on a 8-2 run to get the lead back down to ten at 36-26 with 1:09 left in the quarter. Schlabs and Haneborg each hit threes of their own to get the lead back up to 14 at 42-28 before Fort Lewis made one free throw to end the third period down 13 at 42-29.
• Weathersby scored the first points of the fourth quarter with an immediate layup, and despite some early fight from Fort Lewis, Hammerbeck scored all of the next nine points for the BHSU to put this thing away. A Haneborg three paired with a three from
Emily Cooper poured it on as the Yellow Jackets ran away with this one to win 61-43.
BLACK HILLS STATE STATISTICAL LEADERS
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Morgan Hammerbeck: 22 points, six rebounds, three assists, and 9-14 (64.3%) from the field
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Bradie Schlabs: 14 points, 11 rebounds (3rd double double of the year), and two steals
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Gracie Haneborg: 13 points, six rebounds, six assists, 66.7 percent from the field, 60 percent from behind the arc.
UP NEXT
BHSU heads homes this week to face Colorado Mesa, who is ranked tenth in the D2CSC South Central Regional Poll, in A2 Arena at the Donald E. Young Center on January 23rd at 5 P.M.
