Paxton Ritchey-CSC Sports Information
SALT LAKE CITY. – In a game that featured three major scoring runs, Westminster University produced the decisive one to defeat Chadron State women’s basketball 69-66 at the Behnken Field House in Salt Lake City on Saturday afternoon.
After Westminster raced out to an 18-9 lead at the end of the first quarter, Chadron State responded by outscoring the Griffins 24-9 in the second quarter to take a six-point lead into halftime. The Eagles led 65-60 with two-and-a-half minutes to play, but Westminster ended the game on a 9-1 run and scored the last seven points of the contest to take the win.
The result drops Chadron State to 5-19 overall and 4-14 in RMAC play. Westminster, which entered the game with an identical conference record to CSC, is now 6-20 and 5-13.
Megan Counts led the Eagles with a 12-point, 12-rebound double-double in addition to a block and a steal. Counts, who scored all 12 of her points in the second half, shot 6 of 11 from the floor for the game and was 6 of 8 after halftime.
The Eagles hit 11 three-pointers as a team, their second-highest total in a game this season. Camren Morris and Liberty Line hit three triples apiece on the way to finishing with 12 and 11 points, respectively. Kylie Krise and Jordyn Stokes each hit two three-pointers while Kyra Tanabe sunk one.
Tanabe finished with a game-high seven assists while Stokes had a CSC career-high three steals on the defensive end. The Eagles finished with 17 assists as a team, tied for their third-most in a game this season, while committing only 15 turnovers to have a positive assist/turnover ratio for the second time this season.
In the loss, the Eagles shot 39.1 percent from the field, 37.9 percent from three and 83.3 percent from the line. Westminster shot 42.6 percent from the field, 25 percent from deep and 85.7 percent from the stripe.
The Eagles struggled to a 3-18 start from the floor in the first quarter, but really turned it on in the second period. Chadron State took the lead with an 11-2 scoring run with threes from Line and Morris, a Tanabe jumper and another Morris three to put CSC up 25-23.
After Westminster answered with a bucket to tie the score, the Eagles got a Line three and an Ashayla Powers layup in quick succession to take a five-point lead. Line punctuated CSC’s 24-point quarter with her third three of the period with four seconds left in the half to put CSC up 33-27 at halftime.
Although Westminster tied the score a few times in the second half, the home team didn’t take the lead until 14 seconds left in the game on a fastbreak layup by Abby Conlee that made it 67-66 as part of that game-ending 9-1 run. Krise missed a basket on the other end and the Griffins were able to add two points to their lead at the line before Jordyn Stokes’s halfcourt heave at the buzzer rimmed out.
Chadron State will return home for the final two games of the season, facing Fort Lewis on Thursday at 5 p.m. and Adams State on Saturday at 1 p.m. in the Chicoine Center.