DENVER - Metropolitan State University of Denver used a big second half to top Black Hills State 63-46 on Friday night at the Auraria Event Center. The Roadrunners improved to 5-3 overall and 2-2 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, while BHSU dropped to 4-4 and 3-2 in the RMAC.
 
Two Roadrunners finished with double-doubles in the game. Freshman Emily Hartegan (Frisco, Texas/Wylie East H.S.) had 20 points and 10 rebounds, while Deni Jacobs (Plains, Kan./Southwestern Heights H.S.) had 12 points and 11 rebounds. Hartegan shot 10-for-13 from the floor and had two steals.
 
Jenae Paine (Oregon City, Ore./Oregon City H.S.) knocked down three 3-pointers to finish with nine points. Hannah Stipanovich (St. Louis, Mo./Clayton H.S.) had seven points and five rebounds. Brittany Curl (Absarokee, Mont./Absarokee H.S.), who transferred from BHSU during the offseason, had five points and seven rebounds.
 
MSU Denver outrebounded the Yellow Jackets 46-to-27 (+19) and forced 22 turnovers, while shooting 46 percent from the floor.
 
The Roadrunners closed the first half on a 10-2 run to lead 31-30 at the break. Hartegan hit all seven of her first-half field goals to lead all scorers with 14 points.
 
A put-back layup by Stipanovich gave the Roadrunners a 50-49 lead with 7:50 remaining, the first double-digit lead of the night for the Roadrunners.
 
MSU Denver led by as many as 17 points.
 
The Yellow Jackets were led by 11 points from Chelsey Biegler.
 
The Roadrunners will wrap up 2014 at home on Saturday against Chadron State at 5 p.m.