by LAS, VEGAS, N.M.—Entering day two of the New Mexico trip, Black Hills State University knew they had a few things to clean up in order to be successful the second time around. One of those things being turnovers as the Yellow Jackets doubled up Western New Mexico University in that category last night in their 56-44 loss.
Next on the list for BHSU is New Mexico Highlands University, who limp into the contest with a five-game losing streak. Their last victory came against CSU-Pueblo on Dec. 20. The Cowgirls defeated the Thunderwolves 64-54 on their home floor. The Yellow Jackets took care of business on Saturday night, defeating the Cowgirls 79-61.
The Yellow Jackets improve to 10-5, 8-3 RMAC while New Mexico Highlands falls to 4-12, 3-9 RMAC.
Logan Cowan came out with a vengeance for the Yellow Jackets. She scored the first nine BHSU points to put them ahead 9-3 with 17:00 left in the first half. That was enough to fuel the Cowgirls as they went on a 15-9 run to tie the Yellow Jackets 18-18 with 12:22 left in the first half.
The Yellow Jackets responded as they exploded with a 15-0 run to jump out to a 33-18 lead with 6:20 left in the first half. Chelsey Biegler led the charge with eight points throughout that run for BHSU.
Giulia Simioni broke the Cowgirl’s seven-minute scoring drought with a three-pointer to narrow the Yellow Jacket lead to 33-21 with 5:43 left in the first half. The Yellow Jackets jumped out to a 48-31 halftime lead thanks to a pair of Bailey Kusser three-pointers down the stretch.
The Yellow Jackets didn’t look back as they orchestrated a 15-7 run to open the second half that extended their lead to 63-38 with 13:30 left. Taylor Trohkimoinen and Biegler each hit a three-pointer to pace the Yellow Jackets during the early stages of the second half.
The 25 point lead the Yellow Jackets held slowly dissolved as the Cowgirls went on a 23-11 run to make the score 74-61 with 3:27 left in the second half. However, a Rachel Erickson three-pointer to make the score 77-61 with 1:37 left in the second half forced the Cowgirls into foul mode.
Courtney Patterson converted both her free throws to put the contest further out of reach with 0:46 left in the game. This made the score 79-61.
Biegler (Cheyenne River Sioux) led the Yellow Jackets with 21 points while Claudia Meneses’ 14 points led NMHU.
The Yellow Jackets will return to the Young Center on Friday, Jan. 23 when they take on UC-Colorado Springs. Game time is set for 5:30 p.m.
