RAPID CITY, S.D. --- In a battle of the top two offenses in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, it was the defenses that stood out Tuesday night in a rivalry matchup between the South Dakota School of Mines women's basketball team and Black Hills State at the King Center in Rapid City.

And after a back-and-forth slugfest, it was the Yellow Jackets that pulled away down the stretch to earn the win over the Lady Hardrockers, 59-55.

Points were hard to come by, but the Hardrockers jumped out to a 19-11 first-quarter advantage. The Yellow Jackets came back in the second quarter, outscoring the home team, 18-12, and the 'Rockers went into halftime up, 31-29.

In the third quarter, BHSU was able to better SD Mines, 14-8, and both squad put up 16 markers in the fourth quarter. BHSU pulled away with just under three minutes to play with a six-point advantage. The 'Rockers tried to rally back, but could gain little ground on the Jackets.

The 'Rockers got a lot of good looks at the basket in the second half, but the ball was just not falling in the hole. SD Mines shot 28.6 percent in the second half after an impressive shooting display in the first half --- posting a 41.4 shooting percentage. The home team finished 20-57 from the field to shoot 35.1 percent for the game.

The Hardrockers were 8-34 from behind the arch and 7-11 from the free throw line. They grabbed 24 rebounds, had 12 assists, 12 steals and two blocked shots.
The Yellow Jackets made good on 20-43 from the field to shoot 46.5 percent. They hit 9-17 from the three-point range and were 10-17 from the foul line.  They snagged 38 rebounds, recorded eight assists and three steals.

SD Mines was paced by sophomore Sami Steffeck with 13 points, four rebounds and two steals, freshman Ryan Weiss contributed with 12 points, three rebounds and one assist. Sophomore Cooper Courtney cashed in for 11 points, two steals and one assist while junior Taylor Molstad tacked on 10 markers to go along with three rebounds, three steals and an assist.

Black Hills State (18-6, 12-6) was paced by Rachel Erickson with 14 points and Julia Seamans added 12 markers.

The loss drops SD Mines to 14-10 on the season and 9-9 in conference play. Next up the Hardrockers play host to Colorado School of Mines on Saturday in a 1 p.m. bout.