In 1980, the U.S. Olympic Ice Hockey team, a group of amateur and collegiate players, beat the best hockey team in the world and won an Olympic gold medal. But for every “miracle on ice,” a thousand teams must fail.

In 2012, the Eagles joined the ranks of those teams.

It’s at once terribly cliché and, if you’re superstitious, possibly dangerous to call the Eagle’s 2011-2012 season a Cinderella story. But it’s tough not to notice the similarities.

The women’s basketball team, after losing five games straight, now sits in the bottom half of the table due to an 8-17 record (8-13 RMAC.)

This weekend the Eagles fell to both the UCCS Mountain Lions, 71-70, and the CSU-Pueblo ThunderWolves, 79-52, on Friday and Saturday respectively.

The Chadron State women’s basketball team traveled to Denver this past weekend for the last away games of the season.

But now, in an the midst of an electrifying, 8-win, 2-loss, late-season surge, the Eagles are poised to finish this season in a far more spectacular manner.

There’s a new aroma in the Armstrong Gymnasium. It’s not sweat or hardwood or basketball leather. Inhale deep enough, and you just might catch a whiff of this elusive scent.

It’s a breath of fresh air.

The 8-11 (7-8 RMAC) Mountaineers and 11-8 (9-6 RMAC) Mavericks respectively rank 4th and 1st among the RMAC’s toughest defenses, the Mountaineers holding their opponents to an average of 66.5 points and the Mavs allowing just 61.2. The teams also hold the RMAC’s top two spots for shooting percentage defense.

The Eagles might as well make themselves at home at the foot of the Rocky Mountains. Last week, the team traveled south to take on Colorado State University, Pueblo and the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs.

Senior center Moala Tautuaa, of San Francisco, collected a career-high 30 points, snagged seven rebounds and passed the 1,000 point mark in his career during Saturday’s 91-85 home win over visiting Western New Mexico, Silver City.

The Eagles and Lopers fought neck and neck though the fourth quarter, but a solid finish claimed a much needed 64-60 Eagle victory.