The Chadron State College women’s basketball team (2-4, 1-0 RMAC) defeated the Fort Lewis Skyhawks (1-5, 0-1 RMAC) 72-49 Friday night in their first Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference game of the season.

It was a balanced team effort that drove the Eagles to their biggest win of the season so far. Multiple Eagles scored in double figures, and four different players secured seven or more rebounds.

Multiple lead changes occurred in the first half between the Eagles and Skyhawks. Fort Lewis jumped out to a 6-0 lead to start the game after a three-pointer by Alyssa Adams and a layup and free throw by Sydney Candelaria. After a made jump shot by Emily Achter, Samiyah Worrell helped the Eagles’ offense by landing back-to-back three-pointers to make it 8-6. The two teams traded blows throughout the first quarter, which ended 16-15 Eagles.

Offenses for both teams continued to thrive heading into the second quarter. A layup and a three-pointer by Candelaria put the Skyhawks on top 26-22, which would be their last lead of the game. Jori Peters made a statement down the stretch by securing two defensive rebounds and landing three jump-shots outside the paint, one of which was a buzzer-beater to close out the first half 34-28.

In the second half, the Eagles’ defense surged, holding Fort Lewis to 29.6% on field goals (8-27) and 0% on three-pointers (0-10). Chadron State secured 20 total defensive rebounds during the third and fourth quarters, four of which came from Olyvia Pacheco, who also blocked two of Candelaria’s layups. Pacheco finished with a team-high eight rebounds to close out the night.

Ashayla Powers enjoyed one of the best games of her career Friday night. She led the team in field goals (7-9), field goal percentage (77.8%), free throws (10-11), and total points (24). The freshman forward will look to continue her hot streak going forward.

The Eagles will continue conference play when they host Western Colorado (2-4, 0-1 RMAC) Saturday night in the Chicoine Center.

Chadron State—Ashayla Powers 24, Samiyah Worrell 12, Jori Peters 9, Riley Aiono 8, Olyvia Pacheco 7 Emily Achter 5, Tatum Peterson 5, Olivia Waufle 2. Totals: 23-51 (6-16) 20 27, 72 points, 48 rebounds, 16 assists, 18 turnovers.

Fort Lewis—Sydney Candelaria 21, Alyssa Adams 7, Kelsey Sorenson 4, Piper Terry 4, Tayla Nez 3, Claudia Vidal 2, Samantha Wattawa 2, Jana Conjero 2, Brooke McGee 2, Ember Cervantes 2. Totals: 18-55 (5-23) 8-19, 49 points, 28 rebounds, 9 assists, 15 turnovers.

Fort Lewis surges past Eagles in conference opener

Both Fort Lewis and Chadron State missed their first three field goal shots and had two turnovers in the opening 2 ½ minutes of their Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference season-opener in Chadron on Saturday night. 

But after both finally scored in the next minute, the visiting Skyhawks went on a 12-0 run and were in command the rest of the way while winning 87-63. 

Fort Lewis was hot and Chadron State was not, particularly in the first half, when the Skyhawks shot 51.4% (19-37) including 6 of 15 on 3-pointers, and the Eagles hit just 32.1% (9-28) from the field and made only one of eight shots from behind the arc.  Complicating Chadron State’s shooting misfortune were 12 turnovers that helped the invaders own a 53-22 halftime bulge.

Thirty-one of the Skyhawks’ points came off turnovers, according to the statkeepers.

The Eagles more than doubled their shooting percentage in the second half, when they were 17 of 26 from the field for 65.4%, but they never got closer than the final 24 points.

The Skyhawks were led by their 6-foot-9 tandem. Senior Riley Farris scored 18 points and also grabbed 10 rebounds, while junior Brenden Boatwright tallied 15 points. Guard Akuel Kot with 10 points was Fort Lewis’ only other double-figure scorer, but four more Skyhawks added at least seven points.

Point guard Marcus Jefferson led the Eagles with 13 points while another guard, CJ Jennings, and freshman post Beau Bragg, who came off the bench, both scored 11.

Because of injuries, the Eagles were forced to open their conference slate without some of their taller players who would have been assigned to defend against Farris and Boatwright. CSC’s injury situation also worsened this week when senior mainstay Brady Delimont suffered a serious knee injury that he said did not occur while he was playing basketball.

Delimont was the Eagles’ leading scorer with 19 points on Sunday, when the team concluded a Thanksgiving weekend trip to Puerto Rico by winning its third straight game there.  CSC is now 4-5 for the season.  Fort Lewis improves to 5-2. Both teams were playing their first RMAC game.

The Eagles will host Western Colorado tonight (Saturday) while Fort Lewis will visit Black Hills State in Spearfish.  Black Hills slipped past Western on Friday night 85-80 in a game that saw Yellow Jackets’ 6-7 junior Joel Scott pour in 50 points and the Mountaineers’ 6-4 sophomore Matt Ragsdale tally 53.      

Scott was 19 of 28 from the field with two treys while Ragsdale made 20 of 25 field goal shots, including five triples.  Ragsdale also made all eight of his free shots while Scott was 10-of-14 at the line. Scott out-rebounded Ragsdale 12-3. 

                Fort Lewis—Riley Farris 18, Brandan Boatwright 15, Akuel Kot 10, Will Wittman 9, Junior Garbrah 9, Corey Seng 7, Dunnell Stafford 7, Jacquees Hobbs 4, Jackson Stapleton 3, Ra’Shon Martinez 2, Brendan LaRose 2, Joey Naccarato 1. Totals: 34-73 (9-27) 10-14 87 points, 39 rebounds, 12 turnovers.
                Chadron State—Marcus Jefferson 13, CJ Jennings 11, Beau Bragg 11, Teddy Parham 8, Gage Delimont 7, Taj-Maal Toney 4, KJ Harris 3, Tejuan Hale 2, Kymani Dunham 2, Olgierd Dmochewicz 2. Totals: 26-54 (3-16) 8-12 63 points, 33 rebounds, 21 turnovers.

                Fort Lewis                53           34           —87
                Chadron State         22           41           —53

3-pointers: FLC—Garbrah 3, Farris 2, Seng, Stafford, Wittman, Stapleton, all 1.  CSC—Jennings,  Parham, Delimont, all 1.