SPEARFISH, S.D. – BHSU turned it on in the third quarter for the second game in a row as they outscored the ThunderWolves 29-10 in the quarter en route to a 82-56 win in the first round of the RMAC Tournament for the first time since 2021. Four BHSU players scored over 15 points, with
Kalla Bertram leading the way with 19 and
Gracie Haneborg setting career highs in points (16), and rebounds (15).
QUICK DETAILS
Score: Black Hills State 82, CSU Pueblo 56
Team Records: Black Hills State 18-10 (14-7 RMAC), CSU Pueblo 18-11 (13-8 RMAC)
Attendance: 893
HOW IT HAPPENED
• Alisha Little started this one better than last time as she started the game with a layup to give CSU Pueblo the early 2-0 lead.
Bradie Schlabs answered a minute later with a turn around jumper, before Tomia Johnson hit a three to keep CSU Pueblo's lead at 5-2. Weathersby scored a layup off a great pass from Schlabs and Bertram got a layup to give BHSU their first lead at 6-5. Little hit a deep two to give CSUP the lead back at 7-6 before Schlabs answered with a layup. Landri Hudson would make a three pointer before
Kalla Bertram would make a layup to tie the game at 10. CSUP would go on a 5-0 run with Hudson hitting her second three of the quarter and Little hitting another jumper. Schlabs would hit BHSU's first three of the quarter to cut the lead to two before Yara Garcia would make a buzzer beater to give CSU Pueblo a 17-13 lead as the quarter ended.
• Schlabs and Little traded twos to make the score 19-15. Weathersby made a layup to cut the lead to two and after a couple of free throws the score was at 21-18 with 6:46 left in the half. Shamahra Henderson grew the lead to five with a layup before Haneborg made her own layup to make the score 23-20.
Morgan Hammerbeck hit her first three of the game to tie it up at 23 before Hudson answered with a three of her own. Haneborg made two free throws and Hammerbeck made a nice layup to give BHSU the lead. Bertram made two free throws and Johnson made a layup to keep BHSU's lead at one. Haneborg made two more free throws to give her seven before Henderson made a layup to keep BHSU's lead at 31-30. Schlabs hit a layup to give BHSU a 33-30 lead heading into the half.
• Halftime leaders for the Yellow Jackets include Schlabs with 11 points, two rebounds, and three assists, Haneborg with seven points and 11 rebounds, two away from her career high, and Bertram with six points and two assists. For CSU Pueblo, Hudson has 11 points, and Little has eight points and five rebounds, but two fouls.
• BHSU took off in the third quarter for the second game in a row. CSU Pueblo started the half on a 4-0 run to take the lead 34-33, before BHSU scored 29 of the next 35 points in this game. Bertram started the scoring with a three-point shot to give BHSU the lead and would hit a layup to grow that lead to four. Haneborg hit a corner three to extend it to seven. Bertram hit another three to give BHSU a ten-point lead. She then hit another jumper to get her 16th point of the game. Garcia finally ended the 13-0 run with a three-pointer. Haneborg made another layup to extend the lead to 11. Hammerbeck hit a driving layup to send the lead to 13 before Schlabs hit another jumper to make it 52-37 with 3:30 left in the quarter. Hudson made a jumper to cut the lead back to 13. Hammerbeck scored the next four points for BHSU on a three-pointer to give BHSU a 56-39 lead. Weathersby would add a three-point play to extend the lead to 19 and Bertram would hit a buzzer-beater three to give BHSU a 22-point 62-40 lead heading into the final frame.
• Haneborg started the fourth quarter with two free throws to get to 14 points before Tosjanae Bonds dropped in a layup to cut the lead to 22. Haneborg answered with a layup of her own to get a career-high 16 points. Schlabs hit a layup to extend the lead to 26 with 7:44 to go. Hammerbeck made a driving layup to get to a 27-point lead and Hammerbeck hit a three to get it to 30. After the score hit 73-43, Erickson pulled the starters, and
Sawyer Stoebner made a layup and
Emily Cooper hit back-to-back deep threes to take us to the finish line with BHSU advancing in the RMAC Tournament 82-56.
BLACK HILLS STATE STATISTICAL LEADERS:
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Kalla Bertram: 19 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists
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Gracie Haneborg: 16 points (career high), 15 rebounds (career high)
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Morgan Hammerbeck: 16 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists
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Bradie Schlabs: 15 points, 5 rebounds, 8 assists
UP NEXT
BHSU advances to the second round of the RMAC Tournament where they will head to Grand Junction, Colorado to face the RMAC regular season champions in Colorado Mesa.
