Eagles dominate at home
When the Eagles took the court on Friday night, they were going against a team that had beat them by 27 points earlier in the season. While some teams could have been discouraged by that, Chadron came out on fire and took the victory 67-55 against Colorado Christian University.
Within the first six minutes, the Eagles had scored 14 points and limited the Cougars to only one basket. Nine out of the 14 points came from sophomore guard of Buffalo, Wyo., Dallas Shaw, who made four shots from behind the three point line. Hattie Guzman, redshirt freshman guard of Scottsbluff, added another five three-point shots and totaled 15 points.
At halftime, the Eagles were ahead 28-19, and kept up the pace in the second half, always having a double digit lead.
“I feel the biggest factor to us winning was our patience and ball movement on the offensive end. I feel that our team grew up a lot this weekend and I am looking forward to carrying over that success in the next couple games,” Head Coach Tim Connealy said.
Chadron had a three-point shooting percentage of 39, while CCU only shot 18 percent from behind the three point line. Kattie Ranta, junior guard of Rapid City, S.D., led the Eagles with 18 points.
Defense also was a key factor in the game, as the Eagles out did the Cougars 51-30 in rebounds. Shaw and Ranta each had nine rebounds to contribute to that total. Kate Simonton, sophomore guard of Bakersfield, Calif., helped her team score with her six assists.
With a win under their belt, the Eagles prepared for the contest against Colorado School of Mines. With some sharp shooting by Ranta, and overall team effort, CSC grabbed the 76-62 win from CSM.
The Orediggers were the first to get on the scoreboard, but Chadron was quick to respond. Ranta made two good jump shots to gain the lead for Chadron. Even with one tie, the Eagles pulled ahead and contained the lead for most the first half. Chadron led by more than ten points for the last eight minutes of play, and led 40-27 at halftime.
Starting the second half, CSM came out and made a 6-0 run on the Eagles. The fans may have been scared of a comeback, but the athletes stayed calm and collected, and managed to gain the victory.
Leading in scoring again for Chadron was Ranta, with 20 points. She also scored her seventh double-double for this season by grabbing 14 rebounds as well. Shaw had a hot hand once again when she hit four more three-pointers, totaled 19 points for the night and three assists. Two other Eagles scored in double digits, Simonton with 16 points and Guzman with 10.
Angie Charchalis led the Orediggers with 23 points, and had 20 points from teammate Taylor Helbig. CSM still came up short in field goal shooting percentage, obtaining a 35 percent average compared to Chadron’s 42 percentage.
Chadron travels to Colorado to take on the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs and Colorado State University-Pueblo on Friday and Saturday, respectively.
“UCCS and Pueblo are two of the top teams in the RMAC and will be tough games. If we can limit our turnovers and shoot well I like our chances,” Connealy said.