Women’s team earns second conference win

The Eagles traveled to Colorado hoping to pick up two much needed conference wins before Christmas break started for the athletes. The Eagles went to Denver first to face-off against the Metropolitan State University-Denver Roadrunners. Although the Eagles played well, the Roadrunners prevailed 61-59. On the following night, the women played the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs, winning by a landslide, 83-63.

Offensively against Metro, the Eagles were led in scoring by Maka Daysh a sophomore of Tauranga, New Zealand, who tallied 27 points on nine of 16 from the field and nine of 12 from the free-throw line. Also looking to carry the offensive load, Emma Block senior of Copenhagen, Denmark, chipped in eight points.

Stephanie Knowles, senior of Colorado Springs, Colorado, and Erin Graham, junior of DeLand, Florida, both added six points apiece. The four Eagles players contributed 47 of the team’s total 59 points. Aside from scoring, Knowles led the Eagles in assists with six, while clocking 30 minutes.

Defensively, Daysh led the Eagles in rebounding, pulling down a total of 15 in her 31 minutes of play, giving Daysh a double-double for the evening. Allegria Chisom, senior of Wichita, Kansas, was the second leading rebounder,  grabbing six rebounds in 35 minutes. The team had a total of 43 rebounds on the evening which was seven more than MSU-Denver’s 36. Four Eagles showcased their defensive skills by tying for the most steals on the evening; Graham, Chisom, Knowles, and Kayla Matthews, sophomore of Adelaide, Australia, all managed to get one steal apiece in the game.

Even though it seemed like the Eagles had all the answers to pull off the win they still managed to let a close one slip away and turnovers played a key role amongst other things. The Eagles stacked up 18 turnovers and allowed the Roadrunners to score 12 points as a result, while the Roadrunners had 10 total turnovers but only allowed the Eagles to score four points from their mistakes.

The following day the Eagles traveled to Colorado Springs looking to salvage the trip and go 1-1 for the weekend. They managed to do just that. The Eagles dominated from the opening tip and never looked back.

Offensively, the Eagles were led by Daysh and Graham who both marked 18 points. Daysh continued to shoot good percentages from the field this game going 5 of eight. She shot eight of 10 from the free-throw line. Graham’s shooting performance was equally as impressive, shooting eight of 13 from the field, and she shot 50 percent from the 3-point line. Knowles again led the Eagles in assists with six. Matthews also dished out five assists. The two combined for 11 of the team’s 18 total assists.

Defensively, the Eagles again showed their talents by holding UCCS to only 63 points in the game. In terms of rebounding, the team was once again led by Daysh who collected another double-double pulling down 12 rebounds. Matthews was the second leading rebounder, managing to tally eight rebounds. The duo combined for 20 out of the team’s total 50 rebounds. Five players also added one block apiece. Knowles, who seemed to do a little bit of everything during the game, also led the Eagles with two steals.

The Eagles dominated from the beginning to the end and it showed on the stat sheet and in the end the Eagles pulled off the big upset against UCCS who’s previous record was 6-4, winning, 83-63.

Daysh earned the RMAC Offensive Player of the Week for her efforts. Daysh recorded a double-double in both games, totaling 45 points and 17 rebounds for the two games.