SPEARFISH, S.D.- Black Hills State used a strong second quarter to erase the Mavericks lead and take a lead going into half. They continued to build it early in the third quarter, but were unable to hang on as Mesa's three-point shooting came alive in the final 15 minutes as BHSU fell to Mesa in a tough RMAC battle that knocked BHSU out of a home tournament game. The Yellow Jackets forced Mesa to 24 turnovers, but were unable to take enough advantage as Brinlee McRae, the lone senior, led the Jackets with 18 points on her senior night.

QUICK DETAILS
Score: Black Hills State 66, Colorado Mesa 79
Team Records: Black Hills State 17-10 (14-6 RMAC), Colorado Mesa 30-1 (20-0 RMAC)
Attendance: 1,311

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Tamryn Blom started very hot for Mesa scoring the first eight points for Mesa and propelling them to a 8-2 lead. CMU continued the hot streak with two more threes to two field goals from BHSU to take a 14-8 lead and then went on an 8-2 run to make it 22-10. The two teams traded baskets the rest of the quarter with Emily Cooper, Taylin Serlen, and Alli Glasscock each making buckets to send it into the second quarter with BHSU down 28-16.
• The Yellow Jackets came out buzzing in the second quarter with Serlen hitting a jumper and Cooper hitting a three to cut it to 28-21. BHSU kept pushing with an 8-2 run to make it 30-29 with McRae hitting the bucket. Mykaela Moore answered with a three of her own to make it 33-29, and after a couple of layup trades, Brinlee McRae ended the half with a solo 6-0 run to give BHSU it's first lead going into the break at 37-35. The Yellow Jackets forced seven turnovers in the second quarter.
• Halftime leaders for the Yellow Jackets include Brinlee McRae who had 13 points in the first half and two steals. Serlen had eight points as well. Olivia Reed Thyne had 12 points and four rebounds in that quarter and Mykaela Moore had ten with two assists.
• BHSU started the half on an 8-4 run to go up 45-39 with 6:25 in the quarter. That was the end of the run for BHSU as Mesa went on a 15-2 run to end the quarter and take a 54-47 lead going into the fourth quarter.
• CMU started the final quarter on a 9-4 run with three three-pointers to take a 63-50 lead. BHSU got four in a row to cut it to 63-54 before Mesa went on another 11-4 run to make it 74-58. Emily Cooper scored eight straight points along with Mesa going 5-6 from the free throw line to make it 79-66 to end the game as Mesa gets an undefeated regular season.

 
BLACK HILLS STATE STATISTICAL LEADERS:
Brinlee McRae: 18 points, 3 steals
Emily Cooper: 13 points
 Taylin Serlen: 12 points
Alli Glasscock: 10 points
 
UP NEXT
The Yellow Jackets fell to the five seed with the loss meaning they will head to Gunnison, Colorado to face the Western Colorado Mountaineers on Tuesday night.
 
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