The Chadron State College women’s basketball team had its largest margin of victory since a 37-point 2010 win over Regis University, on Saturday afternoon in the Chicoine Center. CSC defeated Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference opponent New Mexico Highlands University 89-59 to fling its winless streak aside and end the Cowgirls undefeated season.
NMHU entered the game 7-0, with a win Friday night over CSC’s conference travel partner, Colorado Christian University. The Eagles were 0-7, coming off a narrow loss to CSU-Pueblo at home. The visitors left town at 7-1 (1-1 RMAC), while the hosts improved to 1-7 (1-1 RMAC).
Two CSC players went off from three-point range. Redshirt freshman Kyra Tanabe was 5-for-7 from downtown en route to a 7-of-10 finish from the floor, while senior Samiyah Worrell hit 4-of-6 from beyond the arc. The Eagles as a team were 54.5 percent on the long ball after starting the season at 18.6 percent through six games.
Bucking a recent trend, CSC did not have a large lead early, going up by only four in the first quarter.
The Eagles’ surge came in the second, when Worrell was 3-for-4, including a pair of three-pointers, helping the Eagles to lead by as many as 25.
In the second half, CSC continued to shoot the ball well, never leading by less than 16. Tanabe hit all five of her field goal attempts in the final 20 minutes, including three from three-point range, to finish with a game-high 19 points.
Worrell finished at 15 points, while sophomore Ashayla Powers put up 12, and redshirt freshman Claudia Dolliger recorded a career-high 11 points.
For the Cowgirls, guard Juliana Aragon led her team with 16 points and three assists. Post player Neysa Munguia was held to four points, but grabbed nine boards.
Chadron State will be on the road for two more weeks, before a New Year’s Eve meeting with MSU Denver at home.