(Zach Carattini/CSC Sports Information)
With only six games left in the regular season and the annual Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference tournament starting on March 1, the Chadron State College women’s basketball team (7-13, 6-9 RMAC) will need to secure their first road wins of the season this weekend against New Mexico Highlands (5-17, 2-13 RMAC) and UCCS (9-12, 7-8 RMAC).
The top eight teams in conference standings qualify to play in the RMAC tournament. The Eagles’ 6-9 conference record currently positions them just outside the bubble at 10th place. The New Mexico Highlands Cowgirls are 14th at 2-13 and the UCCS Mountain Lions are eighth at 7-8.
First Chadron State will play New Mexico Highlands on Friday at 5 p.m. Since falling 68-63 to the Eagles back in December, the Cowgirls have lost nine of 11 games including a 60-52 defeat at Western Colorado (10-10, 8-7 RMAC) and an 82-53 beating at home against Colorado Mesa (17-4, 12-4 RMAC) in their last two games.
Leading the Cowgirls in scoring this year is 5-foot-8 graduate student Jordyn Lewis. She is the team leader in field goals (79), three-pointers (46), and free throws (65). Her 269 total points rank eighth in the RMAC behind CSC’s Ashayla Powers (277).
The Eagles will drive north to Colorado Springs on Saturday to play the Mountain Lions at 5:30 p.m. After losing 82-77 in double overtime during a memorable December clash at CSC, UCCS has gone 6-5 against Conference opponents. They are coming off a 60-57 win at Western Colorado and a 55-52 edge over Fort Lewis last weekend.
Right before their back-to-back wins in Colorado last weekend, the Mountain Lions suffered a notable 73-71 upset to South Dakota Mines (3-19, 3-13 RMAC), who is currently 13th of 15 in RMAC standings.
UCCS utilizes a balanced offensive attack that features five players with 130 or more points this season. A standout for the team has been 6-foot-2 forward Jasmine Jeffcoat, who leads in field goals (73), free throws (45), points (191), and offensive rebounds (49).
The defensive star for the Mountain Lions is 5-foot-10 forward Agar Farres. She has 135 total rebounds 29 steals so far this season.