by Black Hills State women’s basketball fell to CSU Pueblo 59-52 Tuesday night in the first round of the RMAC Tournament.
The Yellow Jackets (18-10, 16-6 RMAC) end the season in a heartbreaking loss to CSU Pueblo after holding the lead until the final six minutes of play.
Danica Kocer and Raven Cournoyer (Rosebud Sioux Tribe) led the Yellow Jackets in scoring tallying 17 points apiece.
Kocer also led the team in rebounds snagging seven while Ashley Davis (Turtle Mountain Chippew) pulled in six boards as well.
Both the Yellow Jackets and the Thunderwolves were slow to start offensively with the game remaining scoreless until the 8:06 mark when a Danica Kocer layup would give BHSU its first lead of the night. The Thunderwolves responsed quickly with a three pointer to make the Yellow Jacket lead short lived. The Thunderwolves increased their lead to five before BHSU got back on the board with a pair of free throws by Raven Cournoyer. The Yellow Jackets laid on the gas at that point going on an 11-0 run to close out the first quarter up 13-7 over CSUP.
The Thunderwolves struck first in the second quarter on a layup by Alisha Davis. Megan Engesser would answer with a three-pointer to give the Yellow Jackets their largest lead of the night up 16-9. The two teams stayed competitive throughout the second quarter until CSU Pueblo went on a 5-0 run at the 5:49 mark cutting the Yellow Jacket lead to one. BHSU stayed tough through the final minutes of the half taking a 24-21 lead into the locker room.
Out of the half BHSU would open its largest lead of the night taking an eight-point lead over the Thunderwolves with 7:44 in the third on a layup by Danica Kocer. The Thunderwolves came storming back with a 5-0 run to cut the Yellow Jacket lead to three. BHSU and CSUP battled throughout the final minutes of the quarter as CSUP tied things up at 35 with just over five minutes to play. BHSU took back the lead and did not let it go going into the final ten of regulation up 44-40.
The Yellow Jackets hung onto their four-point lead until the 5:58 mark in the fourth quarter when CSUP tied things up on a 3-pointer by Janaiya Davis. At that point the Thunderwolves took their first lead of the night and would not look back outscoring BHSU 11-4 taking the 59-52 victory on their home court.
As a team BHSU made 19 of 56 attempts from the field for a 33.9 shooting percentage. The Yellow Jackets were cooler from downtown than usual making only 5 three pointers out of 23 attempts for a 21.7 shooting percentage.
