Longtime Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference rival Black Hills State (16-8, 14-4 RMAC) forced multiple turnovers in a 58-46 dismantling of the Chadron State College women’s basketball team (7-16, 6-12 RMAC) Tuesday night in the Chicoine Center.

The Yellow Jackets used half-court press defense for all four quarters of the game, overwhelming the Eagles’ offense who turned the ball over 24 times. The Eagles also shot cold going 34% on field goals (16-47), 18.2% on three-pointers (2-11), and 57.1% on free throws (12-21).

The first quarter started with the Jackets scoring six unanswered points off a three-pointer and three free throws. Brittni McCully landed a layup to break the ice for the Eagles at 5:30. Black Hills landed two more three-pointers to pull away from Chadron State, ending the quarter with a 21-11 lead.

CSC began to warm up as both teams scored 14 points in the second quarter. Riley Aiono swished two field goals and a free throw during the Eagles’ best offensive performance of the game. The score at halftime was 35-25 Jackets.

The Yellow Jackets missed nine of their first 10 shots to start the third quarter. Samiyah Worrell and Olivia Waufle tried to capitalize when they landed back-to-back three-pointers to trim the Jackets’ lead to 35-31 at 8:51.

After the two threes, the Eagles were held scoreless until 2:03 as the Yellow Jackets eventually found their footing and scored 11 points before the quarter ended. The score was 46-38 Jackets heading into the final quarter.

The fourth quarter started with a three-pointer by the Yellow Jackets’ leading scorer Danica Kocer. CSC was held to only eight points as it turned the ball over nine more times before the clock expired. The final score was 58-46.

“I thought we had an improved defensive effort, but we turned the ball over too many times and they were able to convert them into points,” said Head Women’s Basketball Coach Janet Raymer. “We put up a good fight.”

The Eagles will drive north to Rapid City to play South Dakota Mines (4-20, 4-14 RMAC) on Thursday at 5:30 p.m.

Chadron State—Ashayla Powers 13, Riley Aiono 12, Jori Peters 6, Brittni McCully 4, Samiyah Worrell 3, Olivia Waufle 3, Olyvia Pacheco 3, Bailey Brooks 2. FG/3PT/FT: 16-47/2-11/12-21, 46 points, 40 rebounds, 13 assists, 24 turnovers.

Black Hills State—Danica Kocer 22, Haylee Weathersby 9, Ashley Davis 8, Megan Engesser 6, Morgan Hammerbeck 5, Niki Van Wyk 5, Ashlee Beacom 3. FG/3PT/FT: 20-54/8-24/10-13, 58 points, 29 rebounds, 16 assists, 13 turnovers.

Chadron State 11 14 13 8 –46

Black Hills State 21 14 11 12 –58

3-pointers: CSC—Worrell 1, Waufle 1. BHSU—Engesser 2, Van Wyk 1, Kocer 1, Weathersby 1, Hammerbeck 1, Beacom 1, Davis 1

Eagles To Visit South Dakota Mines

The Chadron State College basketball teams’ final road trip of the season also will be the shortest.

The Eagles are to visit South Dakota Mines in Rapid City on Thursday night, Feb. 17. The double-header will tip off at 5:30.

The Hardrockers visited Chadron State on Jan. 22 with the Eagles women winning 89-82 in the highest scoring game of the season for both teams, but the Mines men squeezed out a 65-62 victory.

Since then, the CSC women have won 63-61 over Adams State but dropped the remaining six games, one of them 77-74 in overtime to CSU-Pueblo. The men have won two nail-biters, edging Metro State in Denver 78-76 in overtime and Colorado State-Pueblo 88-86 at home, and have lost three times, one of them to Adams State 59-58.

CSC’s women are 7-16 for the season and 6-12 in conference play. They lost to Black Hills State 58-46 in Chadron on Tuesday night.

The CSC men also were to host the Yellow Jackets, but that game was postponed because flu-like symptoms were affecting a few Eagles. Coach Shane Paben said Wednesday his team should have at least eight players available Thursday night and plans to make the trip to Rapid City.

Paben added that he hopes the game with Black Hills can be made up next Monday or Tuesday night. The CSC men are 9-15 overall and 5-11 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference.

Following their trip to Chadron, the Lady Rockers defeated New Mexico Highlands, Colorado-Colorado Springs and Colorado Christian and are now 4-20 for the season and 4-14 in conference play. Their top scorer is senior Ryan Weiss with a 12.7-point average. She’s the school’s all-time leader in 3-pointers, but freshman Piper Bauer has made 55 treys this season, three more than Weiss’s total this winter.

After playing the Eagles on Jan. 22, the Mines men lost their next five games before edging Colorado Christian 81-78 last Saturday night, when redshirt freshman Walter Brevin tallied 38 points, 18 of them at the free throw line.

Brevin is averaging 16.6 points a game, point guard Alejandro Rama is at 15.2 and center Kolton Mortensen 14.3.

The Hardrockers are 8-16 overall and 6-12 in the RMAC.

The Chadron State men are led in scoring by guards CJ Jennings at 14.3 points a game and Marcus Jefferson at 12.7. Redshirt freshman forward Shay Powers paces the CSC women with a 14.0 per game average. Junior guard Samiyah Worrell is next at 11.1.