Eagle women fall in thriller, drop the ball against Regis
By Eben Rosentrater – Sports Editor
A large amount of missed shots, missed opportunities, and turnovers caused the CSC women’s basketball team to lose to both weekend games against the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs Mountain Lions and Regis University Rangers, of Denver, on Friday and Saturday.
A nail-biting close contest against the Mountain Lions was the highlight of the Eagles weekend, however, a last-second 15-foot jumper could not save Chadron from defeat.
Friday’s match against the Mountain Lions was shaping up to be another shootout. Chadron’s last meeting with UCCS ended in a close 66-72 loss for the Eagles. Friday’s contest, in similar fashion, did not disappoint in terms of action.
Directly from the tipoff, the Eagles broke out, taking the lead 18-5 in the first quarter. However, UCCS battled back for the rest of the first half, bringing the game within five by halftime.
The Eagles led 28-23 leaving the intermission and would narrowly hold on to the lead until the last five minutes of the game. A 45-45 stalemate would be broken by the Mountain Lions, taking a lead that the Eagles would not be able to recover from.
In the final minute of the contest, Samiyah Worrell, senior of Fountain, Colorado, sank two back-to-back 3-pointers, putting the Eagles within one point.
A last-second turnover committed by the Mountain Lions gave the Eagles a chance to win the game with five seconds left. Chadron State inbounded the ball after a timeout, took one final shot, but unfortunately missed, losing the game 58-57.
Worrell led the Eagles in scoring with 16 points, along with four assists and three rebounds. Ashayla Powers, sophomore of Longmont, Colorado, and Riley Aiono, junior of Bountiful, Utah, followed Worrell up with two more double-digit scoring performances.
Saturday’s contest against the Rangers did not bode well either for Chadron State.
Regis guard Athena Saragoza, sophomore of Santa Barbara, California, broke out from the start and sank four straight 3-pointers, putting the Rangers out ahead 12-4.
After one half, the Eagles were only down by eight, but a hail of Ranger 3-pointers continued to extend Regis’s lead. The high scoring Ranger offense couldn’t be countered by the Eagles.
Powers led Chadron State in scoring with 21 points and eight rebounds. No other Eagle player scored above 10 points, making a comeback a tall task.
Chadron State would go on to lose 58-71, falling to 3-16 on the season, 3-8 in conference play, and 15th in RMAC rankings.
The Eagles will play again when they travel to Rapid City, South Dakota, to take on the South Dakota Mines Hardrockers, at 5:30 p.m., on Saturday, in the King Center.