The Yellow Jackets were unable to get to their tenth straight win as they fall in a matchup to #9 Colorado Mesa 62-49. It is the Yellow Jackets first double-digit loss this year and it helps Colorado Mesa improve to a 16-game win streak. The Yellow Jackets kept it close in the first half, but an 10-0 run to begin the second half put the game out of reach for a Yellow Jackets team who struggled from three yet again.
The Yellow Jackets shot 3-20 from three, while Mesa shot 8-22 with all eight of those threes coming in the first three quarters. Bradie Schlabs had a great game for BHSU with 13 points, six rebounds, and four assists, but she was the only Yellow Jacket to make it to double-digits.
QUICK DETAILS
Score: Black Hills State 49 , Colorado Mesa 62
Team Records: Black Hills State 10-6 (7-2 RMAC), Colorado Mesa 19-1 (9-0 RMAC)
Attendance: 887
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The first quarter started incredibly back and forth. Taylin Serlen started the game with a layup before Hallie Clark answered with a three. Maureen Ulrich hit a layup to go up 4-3 before Clark made a second three to take a 6-4 lead. Serlen tied it with a jumper and an Audrey Norville three gave BHSU a 9-7 lead. Mesa ended the quarter on a 8-2 run with Olivia Reed Thyne finally getting on the board with two free throws and a layup and Mason Rowland ending the quarter with a buzzer-beater three to take a 15-11 lead going into the second.
- Cayden King would get the Mavericks going with a three to begin the second quarter and extend the lead to eight at 18-11. Taylin Serlen would get the lead back to 18-15 with a solo 4-0 run. After some alternating scoring, Bradie Schlabs hit a three and a layup to bring it to within two and then Audrey Norville tied the game at 24 with a jumper. CMU would immediately answer with an 8-3 run courtesy of a Kaylie Page three pointer and a jumper by both Reed Thyne and Rowland to send the game into halftime with the Mavericks up 32-27.
- The halftime leaders for BHSU included Serlen, who had eight points, Schlabs, who had six points and four rebounds, Norville with five points and four rebounds, and Ulrich, who had six rebounds. For Mesa, Clark had eight, Reed Thyne had eight points and five rebounds, and Rowland had six points and four rebounds.
- The third quarter started as bad as it could for BHSU. Mesa went on an 10-0 run to begin the quarter giving them a 15-point 42-27 lead. Reed Thyne had five of those points and Tamryn Blom hit a three as well. Ulrich hit a layup to end the run and Schlabs matched a three by Mykaela Moore to make it a 13-point game. BHSU went on a 6-0 run to get the lead under ten at 47-38 before CMU went on a 8-2 run to end the quarter and take a 55-40 lead into the final frame.
- BHSU had a major opportunity to come back in this quarter as the Yellow Jackets defense stepped up big time. They held Mesa scoreless in the quarter for the first seven and a half minutes. However, despite that BHSU was only able to score seven points in that same amount of time, which did get the lead down to seven at 55-48, but the Yellow Jackets couldn’t find the bottom of the net late as Mesa went on a 7-1 run to end the game and win the game at 62-49. The Green and Gold were able to hold two of the best scorers in the RMAC to below average nights, with Reed Thyne finishing with just 15 points which is five points below her season average and then held Rowland to 14 points, which is three points below her season average.
BLACK HILLS STATE STATISTICAL LEADERS:
Bradie Schlabs: 13 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists
Audrey Norville: 9 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists
Maureen Ulrich: 6 points, 9 rebounds
UP NEXT
The Yellow Jackets will stay west in Colorado and go face the Western Colorado Mountaineers on Saturday in Gunnison, Colorado. They will look to get back into the win column there after they had their nine-game winning streak snapped Thursday.
