SPEARFISH, S.D. – No. 16 University of Colorado Colorado Springs and Black Hills State tied each other eight times and exchanged the lead nine times, but the Mountain Lions (16-2 / 11-1 RMAC) took the lead with 2:29 to play and kept an advantage through a 67-66 victory against the Yellow Jackets (10-6 / 8-4 RMAC).
Brittany Hernandez led both teams with 24 points, nine rebounds and three blocked shots.
The win was the eighth straight for the Mountain Lions and came against a team ranked in the latest regional media poll. UCCS remains in first in the RMAC standings with a one-game lead against Colorado Mesa with 10 regular season games to play.
The Mountain Lions scored on the first possession of the game with a three-pointer from
Gabby Ramirez and led by as many as seven points with 10 minutes to play in the half. UCCS held off four Black Hills State ties and didn't trail until the Yellow Jackets took the 23-22 lead off of free throws with 2:22 to play in the period.
Shannon Kelly added a free throw with 32 seconds to play to tie the game at 23-23 by halftime.
The Yellow Jackets scored on its first two possessions of the second half and built an eight-point lead at 41-33 with 11:07 to play in the game. UCCS rallied for a 10-4 run to tie the game with 7:55 to play and took the lead on three straight free throws from
Jessika Kienitz at 48-47 with 6:50 remaining. Each team exchange one-point leads before Kirchoff put the Mountain Lions up by two points at 53-51 with 4:23 to play.
Kirchoff put UCCS back ahead at 56-55 after Black Hills State retook the lead on free throws, and the Yellow Jackets tied it again at 56-56 with another free throw. Kienitz used her three-pointer at 2:29 to put the Mountain Lions back up by three points and UCCS went six-of-six at the free throw line in the final 67 seconds to secure the victory.
Hernandez recorded her third 20-point game since Jan. 10 and came one rebound short of her seventh double-double of the season. She scored 18 of her 24 points in the second half with an eight-of-10 performance at the free throw line.
Kienitz scored 16 points and went three-of-four from the three-point line and five-of-five at the free throw line. Kirchoff added 14 points and seven rebounds for the Mountain Lions.
UCCS will conclude the weekend road trip on Saturday at 5:30 p.m., against Chadron State. The Eagles (3-13 / 3-9 RMAC) fell to Colorado State-Pueblo 72-58 earlier tonight.
