GRAND JUNCTION, COLO – The Black Hills State Yellow Jackets were not able to comeback on Colorado Mesa as the Mavericks were able to hold on to win 77-74. BHSU had a half court chance to win at the buzzer, but it fell short. It was back and forth all game before Mesa was able to hit on free throws, while BHSU missed on some chances late. Colorado Mesa officially clinched a share of the regular season RMAC title with this win.
QUICK DETAILS
Score: Black Hills State 74, Colorado Mesa 77
Team Records: Black Hills State 16-9 (12-6 RMAC), Colorado Mesa 21-4 (16-2 RMAC)
Attendance: 731
HOW IT HAPPENED
• This game was back and forth from the very start with the biggest lead in the first quarter being three on each side. Kylie Kraving got the scoring started at 2-0 and
Haylee Weathersby immediately answered with a layup of her own. After
Bradie Schlabs made two free throws, Olivia Reed-Thyne made her first layup of the game to tie it back up at 4-0. Mesa hit the first three of the game with Brooklyn Palmer sinking it to give Mesa a 7-6 lead, but BHSU was able to go on a 4-0 run with a jumper from Hammerbeck and a layup from Schlabs to take a 10-7 lead. Palmer and Reed-Thyne would each make shots in a 6-0 run to give them a 13-10 lead before Hammerbeck hit a three pointer to tie it up at 13. Mesa would make two free throws and Schlabs would hit a late layup to send into the second tied at 15.
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Gracie Haneborg started the scoring with a three pointer to give BHSU an 18-15 lead. CMU would immediately answer with a layup and a free throw. Weathersby would score the next three points, before Macy Larsen hit a three to tie it at 21. With the score tied at 23, Haneborg would hit her second three of the quarter and
Emily Cooper would hit another three to give BHSU the biggest lead of the game at 29-23. Mesa would answer with a 6-0 run of their own with layups from Larsen and Mykaela Moore to tie it at 29.
Emily Cooper would make her second three of the half to take a 32-29 lead, before Mesa would make back-to-back two pointers to end the half and head into the break with a 33-32 lead.
• Hammerbeck started the second half on a 5-0 run to give BHSU a 37-33 lead, before Mesa answered with an 8-2 run to take the lead back at 41-39. Haneborg made a layup to tie it up at 41, before Reed-Thyne converted a three-point play to give the Mavericks a 44-41 lead. The Yellow Jackets bounced back with a 4-0 run to retake the lead at 45-44. Mesa then went on an 8-2 run with two threes from Palmer to give Mesa their biggest lead of the game at 52-47. Hammerbeck made a layup and Schlabs hit both free throws to bring the lead back to one at 52-51. Mesa went on a 5-2 run to end the third quarter and take a 57-53 lead into the final frame.
• Weathersby hit a jumper to start the fourth and cut the lead to two before Larsen made a layup to send the lead back to four at 59-55. Weathersby hit four free throws, while Larsen hit a three and Riley Hayes hit a layup to grow the lead to five at 64-59. Reed-Thyne hit a layup to get the lead to seven, the biggest it had been all game. BHSU wasn't done yet, they went on a 6-2 run to bring the lead down to three at 68-65 with 3:10 remaining in the game. However, neither team could find the basket for the next 2:30, so BHSU had to start the foul game. With neither team blinking, Mesa finally missed a free throw to keep the lead at three with 17 seconds remaining. Mesa fouled Cooper, who went one of two from the line, and gave Mesa a chance to take a two-possession lead, which they did with Hayes hitting both to make it a 75-71 lead with 10 seconds. Schlabs hit a huge running three to cut the lead to one with 3 seconds remaining and Mesa made both free throws, meaning with 2.3 seconds remaining, BHSU had one shot. The half-court heave from Schlabs fell just short and Mesa held on to the lead to 77-74.
BLACK HILLS STATE STATISTICAL LEADERS:
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Bradie Schlabs: 20 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists
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Haylee Weathersby: 17 points, 9 rebounds
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Morgan Hammerbeck: 14 points, 3 rebounds
UP NEXT
BHSU heads home for final home matches of the year starting with Adams State, who is tied with BHSU for third in the RMAC at 12-6.
