SPEARFISH - On a day in which Black Hills State University celebrated its 125th anniversary, the Lady Yellow Jackets moved one win away from earning a berth in the

NAIA Division II National Women's Basketball Tournament. BHSU posted a 67-48 win over Jamestown College in the semifinal round of the Dakota Athletic Conference tournament Wednesday at the Young Center.

The win sends BHSU into the championship game of the DAC tourney Sunday at 3 p.m. versus Mayville State at the Young Center. The Comets upset No. 1 seed, and regular-season DAC co-champion, Dakota State in the other semifinal-round game Wednesday.

Sunday's DAC title game winner earns an automatic berth to the national tourney in Sioux City, Iowa, on March 12-18.

"The ball is in our court. We control our own destiny," BHSU coach Mark Nore said.

Lacey Haughian paced the Green and Gold with 20 points. Snjezana Dojcinovic chipped in 13 points, six rebounds and five assists. Katelynn Lamb added 13 points and eight rebounds.

Heidi Fiechtner led the Jimmies with 15 points. Giuli Varriano tossed in 12 points.

BHSU jumped to an early 11-2 lead.

"We started the game really well," said Nore. "Our ball movement was good, and we defended well."

"To play Black Hills, you have to handle their runs," Jamestown College coach Mark Wiest said. "They had a big run right off the bat."

The Jimmies whittled the deficit to 15-13 when Lead sophomore Amanda Rantapaa drilled a three-pointer. The Stingers answered with 13-4 scoring run, highlighted by four points from Lamb, a freshman from Onida. BHSU took a 28-18 halftime advantage.

A pair of free throws by Lamb stretched the lead to 15 points, 49-34, in the second half.

The two teams both struggled with their shooting from beyond the three-point line. The Jimmies connected on only 2-of-17 three-pointers and sank 27 percent (12-44) of their shot attempts in the contest. BHSU sank 3-of-18 of its three-pointers.

"Any time you shoot the way we did and come out with a win, it falls on your defense and rebounding," Nore said.

The Lady Jackets, led by nine caroms by Bayley Chevron, won the battle of the boards, 46-30.

Jamestown College was hampered by foul difficulty to Giuli Varriano, the leading scorer in the conference. Varriano played just over 18 minutes, before fouling out of the game with 5:50 remaining.

"It was a real physical game," said Wiest. "We had our two leading scorers on the bench in foul trouble." Jamestown College was whistled for 26 fouls.

"We didn't feel we had our best game, but we hung around. We obviously didn't shoot the ball well from the perimeter. We didn't execute at the free throw line." The Jimmies drained 22-of-33 at the charity stripe. "We had our opportunities, but couldn't get over the hump. Black Hills switching defenses on us had a lot to do with it."

"We won ugly, but we'll take it," said Nore. Jamestown had a little big of a swagger. We countered every run they had. Z (Dojcinovic) played an all-around game. Alexis Krull was good for us.

"This is such a great opportunity for us," said Nore of the Jackets Sunday date with Mayville State in the DAC championship game. The two teams split their regular season meetings, with each team winning on its respective home court. BHSU 25-5, is rated No. 13 in the final NAIA poll released on Wednesday.