by Steve Carlson
LAKEWOOD, Colo. – The Black Hills State University women’s basketball team (12-6, 9-5 RMAC) traveled to the suburbs of Denver to battle the Cougars of Colorado Christian University (11-9, 7-7 RMAC). Despite 20 points from Raven Cournoyer and a career-high nine points from Karissa Smith, it was the Cougars who defended their home floor with a 75-62 victory Saturday evening.
The two teams battled neck-and-neck in the first 10 minutes, with the largest lead only being five held by Black Hills State at 11-6 with 5:11 left in the quarter. Colorado Christian scored the first bucket of the game, but that would be their only lead of the frame as back-to-back-to-back lay-ups gave the Yellow Jackets a 6-2 lead. Smith (Fr., Freedom, Wis.) would knock down the first 3-pointer of the game for either side to push the BH lead back up to four at 18-14 later in the frame. Cournoyer (Gr., Mission, S.D.) had nine of the team’s 18 first quarter points, shooting 4-for-5 from the floor in the quarter as BH lead 18-14 after one.
The Cougars wasted no time in the second quarter, as Nicole Bowlin drilled a 3-pointer to pull CCU to within one. Hitting her second trey of the game, Smith gave the Jackets their then largest lead of the contest at six, 23-17. CCU would go on a 7-0 run as Regan LoConte hit a 3-pointer to give the Cougars their first advantage at 24-23 since it was 2-0.
Cournoyer would end the run with a lay-up of her own, putting the Jackets back on top. Neither team would lead by more than three for the rest of the half. It became the Cournoyer and Maggie Hutka show, seemingly scoring most of the points for their respective teams. Colorado Christian would retake a one-point lead at 32-31 with a minute and a half left before halftime. The Cougars would utilize a 7-0 run to finish out the half to take a 35-31 lead into the locker room.
Cournoyer had 15 points in the first half, just six from her career-high set earlier this season against CSU Pueblo. Kalla Bertram (Jr., Colome, S.D.) grabbed five rebounds and Ellie Moore (Gr., Phoenix, Ariz.) dished out a pair of assists. Shooting 2-for-11 from deep in the first 20 minutes, both makes coming from Smith (2-for-3 from deep).
Both teams scored five points in the first couple of minutes in the third quarter, as the Cougars held onto their four-point lead. Both sides would then go nearly three minutes without a field goal, but Cournoyer converted on a pair of free throws to pull within two points. CCU would hit back-to-back 3-pointers to open up an eight-point lead at 46-38, but Smith responded with her third 3-pointer of the night. The Yellow Jackets would trail 48-43 at the media break of the quarter and would pull to within three points a couple of times but the Cougars found ways to respond with buckets of their own. Colorado Christian would take a 53-49 lead into the final quarter of play.
The Cougars opened their largest lead of the night with a 5-0 run to start the final frame, taking a 58-49 lead. The run quickly grew into a 10-2 spurt and Colorado Christian would attempt to pull away in the final 10 minutes of play. Black Hills State would continue to battle, pulling the deficit back to single digits with a lay-up from Kaycee Groves (So., Faith, S.D.) to make it 56-65. The push would not be enough as the Cougars would snap a four-game skid with a 75-62 home victory over the Yellow Jackets
