Con Marshall
CHADRON, Neb. – Three Chadron State Eagles combined to make two-thirds of their field goal attempts and tally 60 points Monday night as CSC earned its first win of the season 92-72 on their home court over the York University Panthers.
Junior guards Allison Richards and Kylie Krise made five three-pointers each as Richards finished with a game-high 21 points and Krise tallied 19. Senior forward Ashayla Powers posted 20 points, making 9 of 11 from the field. Powers also grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds for her second double-double of the season and also came away with four steals. Richards, Krise and Powers combined to make 24 of their 36 field goal shots.
Chadron State’s remaining starters also played well. Camren Morris added 13 points and Kyra Tanabe contributed nine points while handing out six assists. The Chadron State starting lineup combined to score 82 of the 92 Eagle points on the day.
The Eagles got off to a fast start Monday night, making six of their 11 field goal attempts while building a 15-2 lead in the opening four minutes. After that hot start, however, they did not score again for nearly four more minutes, and led just 21-20 at the end of the opening period.
Two minutes into the second quarter, York tied the score 26-26 on a layup by one of its top players, Destiny Shepherd. However, Powers soon cashed in on an old-fashioned three-point play to reclaim the lead and the Eagles were ahead the rest of the way. Chadron State went on to outscore the visitors 26-13 in the second stanza and had a 47-33 halftime margin. Krise sparked the second quarter surge by nailing a trio of 3-pointers, giving her 14 points in the opening half.
The teams mostly traded buckets in the second half, as the Eagles tallied 45 points and Cougars 39 after halftime. Chadron State led by 21 points four times in the second half and settled for the 20-point triumph.
The Eagles were 35-of-76 from the field for 46.1%, including 14-of-42 from 3-point range for 33.3%, and made eight of 11 free throws Monday night. York shot about the same percentage from the field, hitting 44.8%, (26-58), but had 18 fewer field goal attempts, thanks largely to the Eagles’ 49-29 rebounding margin.
Aside from Powers’ 13 rebounds, no one else had more than six rebounds for either team. The Eagles committed 18 turnovers, one more than York. CSC was credited with 15 points off fast breaks; York just four.
Senior Britney Schroer led the Panthers, now 2-5 for the season, with 19 points. Shepherd, a 5-4 junior, was York’s only other double-digit scorer with 15 points. The visitors got 28 of their points from players coming off the bench.
During the game, Allison Richards surpassed 1,000 points in her total collegiate career. While 57 of those points have come as an Eagle, the rest came at the junior college level, where she was an All-American last season.
The win for Chadron State snapped a 12-game losing streak for the program dating back to last season.
Both Chadron State teams will be at home Saturday, Nov. 30 to play long-time rival Nebraska-Kearney. The double-header will tip off with a women’s game at 3 o’clock, followed by a men’s game at 5 p.m.