The Western Colorado University women's basketball team earned its third straight Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) win after defeating Black Hills State with a final score of 56-51 on Jan. 25.
The Mountaineers won the tipoff, allowing senior Rachel Cockman to hit Brooklyn Seymour for an open layup and take the early lead. Junior Ivey Schmidt capitalized on a Black Hills miss, grabbed the defensive board and found sophomore Jayda Maves for a 3-pointer. The Yellow Jackets tied the game at 5-5 after back-to-back buckets.
Moments later, Western gained an 18-13 advantage with 2 minutes left in the first quarter. Black Hills put up 6 consecutive points to take the lead 19-18 heading into the second.
Graduate Jayde Tschritter was immediately sent to the charity stripe to start the quarter, tying the game at 19 apiece. Two layups in a row for the Yellow Jackets extended their edge, but Cockman and Schmidt combined for 6 to make it a 1-point game.
Buckets were traded, but the Mountaineers were still down until sophomore Alyssa Eckroth hit a shot from behind the arch to equalize 30-30. Black Hills responded with a 3-pointer, but Cockman hit the last shot of the half to send the Mountaineers into the locker room down just a single point.
After the break, Cockman grasped the lead for Western with a turn-around jumper. Freshman Penelope Urquhart, junior Chloe Daniels and Eckroth scored to push the Mountaineers up, 43-35.
Into the final quarter, the Mountaineers held a 4-point advantage. Seymour gave Western a 6-point cushion, but with 4 minutes left, the Yellow Jackets narrowed the gap to 50-49.
Cockman took charge, and polished off back-to-back layups to secure a 54-49 advantage with just 2 minutes on the clock. The Mountaineers overpowered the Yellow Jackets in the final moments to win 56-51.
The Mountaineers will travel to face RMAC opponent University of Colorado, Colorado Springs on Thursday, Jan. 30 at 5 p.m.
(Drew Dunathan is the assistant athletics communications director at Western Colorado University, and can be reached at ddunathan@western.edu.)
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