Emily Cooper scored a career-high 19 points with 12 of them coming in the fourth quarter as the Black Hills State Yellow Jackets stunned the UCCS Mountain Lions 61-56 in A2 Arena in a game that was tied at halftime. The Yellow Jackets never trailed in the second half and were able to hold a strong offensive UCCS team to 37.9 percent shooting. BHSU made 25 free throws tonight out of 31 attempts. It is only the second time since the 2021-22 season that they have made 25 free throws in a game.
QUICK DETAILS
Score: Black Hills State 61, Chadron State 56
Team Records: Black Hills State 3-5 (2-1 RMAC), Chadron State 4-5 (1-2 RMAC)
Attendance: 643
HOW IT HAPPENED
- No one scored in this game until there was under seven minutes remaining in the first quarter when Amyah Moore Allen made a layup to get it to 2-0. UCCS would get another layup to make it 4-0 before BHSU went on a 4-0 run to tie it at four with a basket by Taylin Serlen and two free throws by Sawyer Stoebner. UCCS would go on a 10-4 run to get the lead at 14-8 before a Bradie Schlabs layup sent it into the fourth quarter 14-10.
- UCCS continued to pile on to the lead with four free throws from BHSU being the only thing keeping it close. Back-to-back jumpers by the Mountain Lions made it 21-14 with eight minutes to go in the half. BHSU would then find another gear with Serlen making two free throws, Audrey Norville getting a three-point play and both Schlabs and Brinlee McRae hitting jumpers to help BHSU go on a 9-0 run to take a 23-21 lead. UCCS would answer with a 6-0 run to grab the lead back at 27-23. After more free throws, Schlabs would make a jumper with three seconds to go to send it into half tied at 28.
- The Yellow Jackets shot 30 percent from the field and didn’t hit a three in the first half, yet were tied because they were 12-15 from the charity stripe. Halftime leaders for the Yellow Jackets were Schlabs with eight points, Stoebner with six points, and Serlen with five. Moore Allen had nine points in the first half for the Mountain Lions, while Ellie Reynolds had seven.
- Stoebner got an immediate layup for BHSU coming out of the break to put BHSU on top 30-28. No team score for two and a half minutes after that before Serlen got a free throw and Stoebner got another bucket to put BHSU up 33-28. The Green and Gold would then survive by making five free throws in the next four minutes of game time before Emily Cooper would hit a three to put BHSU up 41-35. Ayianna Johnson hit a layup to put the score at 43-39 heading into the final frame.
- Moore Allen hit a layup to begin the final quarter to get the score within two at 43-41. McRae would hit a jumper and Serlen would make two more free throws to get it back to 47-41. Moore Allen made another layup before each team went cold for over two minutes before Moore Allen made another layup to get it back to within two. Cooper hit her second three of the game to put the lead up to five before each team had baskets and Moore Allen found the hoop again to cut it down to three at 52-49. Cooper hit another three to make it six before Mya Wilson made a layup to put the score at 55-51. Cooper hit her third three of the quarter to make the separation seven before Rylie Ottmann hit a three to answer. No one scored again for just under two minutes before Moore Allen cut the lead to two with 28 seconds remaining at 58-56. Cooper made one of two free throws to put the score at 59-56. With 18 seconds remaining, BHSU put together one of the best defensive possessions of the game ending with Johnson of UCCS committing an offensive foul on Emily Cooper. Cooper would hit both free throws to ice it and the Yellow Jackets would come away with a massive 61-56 win. Taylin Serlen, who had been tasked with guarding one of the best players in the RMAC in Johnson held her to eight points when she’d been averaging 18.
BLACK HILLS STATE STATISTICAL LEADERS:
Emily Cooper: 19 points, 7-8 free throws
Sawyer Stoebner: 10 points, 5 rebounds
Bradie Schlabs: 10 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists
Taylin Serlen: 8 points, 4 rebounds, 2 steals.
UP NEXT
The Yellow Jackets will finish their 2025 RMAC slate with a chance to get three straight wins as they stay home to face Colorado Christian on Saturday at 4:00 in A2 Arena
