RAPID CITY - No scoreboard advantage is apparently safe when archrivals Black Hills State and South Dakota School Mines take to the court.

The Black Hills State Yellow Jackets stormed back twice from double-digit deficits, the second time erasing a 12-point shortfall in the second half to sting the Mines Lady Hardrockers 72-68 in women's college basketball Wednesday night.

"That was a nice lead," said Mines coach Barb Felderman, her voice trailing off in disappointment after watching her team bow in the Dakota Athletic Conference opener for both teams at Mines' Goodell Gym.

Snjezana Dojcinovic's drive down the left side of the lane gave the Yellow Jackets a 70-68 lead with 1:40 left, capping a resurgence that saw a 48-36 Mines lead with 13 minutes left evaporate.

Single free throws from Lacey Haughian and Bayley Chevron sealed the win for the Yellow Jackets.

Mines, which struggled both at the free throw line and from 3-point range, missed three last-ditch attempts from beyond the arc in the final seconds.

The loss overshadowed a 25-point effort from Mines' Melanie Vedvei.

The 5-foot-7 senior, a two-time Dakota Athletic conference pick and NAIA All-American selection from Lake Preston, keyed a pair of scoring surges in each half.

Vedvei scored nine of Mines' first 11 points to lead the Lady Rockers to a 13-3 lead to start the first half.

Vedvei also scored 10 points in a 16-0 outburst that erased a 36-32 Black Hills cushion early in the second half.

"It was such a game of runs," Yellow Jacket coach Mark Nore said. "And Tech seemed to come out on top each time."

A three-pointer from Brittany Fuhrman finally got the Yellow Jackets on the board with 4:10 gone in the first half, sparking a 14-4 run that gave Black Hills its first lead at 18-17 with 7:52 left in the half.

But Nore's Yellow Jackets were able to respond each time.

"We stopped them and just went point-by-point. That was huge," said senior starting forward Lindsey Buthe, who shared top scoring honors with 15 points and grabbed nine rebounds for Black Hills.

"Our whole team came out ready to play tonight. We were full of energy. It was a complete team win," she said.

"She was player of the game," Nore said of Buthe. "She is becoming such an offensive threat, and that's good because she's also a great defensive player."

Mines out-shot Black Hills 49 percent to 45 percent from the field, but the Lady Hardrockers managed just 5-of-14 from the stripe in the first half, en route to 17-of-32 for the night.

Haughian also scored 15 for the Yellow Jackets. Chevron added 14 points and Fuhrman had 11, including 3-of-5 from three-point range.

"She's got ice in her veins," Nore said of Fuhrman, a 5-foot-6 sophomore from Mobridge.

"She got us some points when we really needed them."

Black Hills was 7-of-15 from beyond the arc. Mines was just 1-for-11 from long range. Jennie Malone's lone trey didn't come until the 5:20 mark in the second half. She was the only other Lady Hardrocker in double-figures with 12 points.

Black Hills held a 42-25 advantage on the boards. Dojcinovic, a 6-foot-3 senior from Zagreb, Croatia, pulled down eight.

Vedvie grabbed six for Mines.

The Black Hills win denied Felderman her 400th victory in her 27-year career at the Lady Hardrockers' helm.

"The teams were evenly matched," Felderman said. "If it's the lack of mental toughness for us or the shots not falling, I just don't know."

The two teams combined for 57 turnovers - 31 for Black Hills, 26 for Mines.

"What an intense game. It was two teams getting after each other, and both teams left it on the floor," Nore said.

"Our turnovers were pretty much unforced," Felderman said. "We did it to ourselves."

Mines was ranked 13th in the first regular-season NAIA Div. II women's basketball poll released Wednesday. Black Hills was 20th.

The Yellow Jackets, 9-2 overall, 1-0 in the DAC, host Rocky Mountain College of Billings, Mont., on Friday at the Young Center in Spearfish.

Mines, 8-3 overall, 0-1 DAC, will host Rocky Mountain the following night at Goodell Gym.