CHADRON, Neb. (January 23, 2015) ~ The Colorado State University-Pueblo women's basketball team forced a season-high 27 turnovers en route to a 72-58 road victory inside the Chicoine Center Friday at Chadron State College.
The ThunderWolves snap a two-game losing streak and collect their 17th consecutive win over the Eagles to improve their season record to 9-7 overall and 7-5 in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference tilts. The loss drops Chadron State to 3-13 on the season and 3-9 in league games.
The story of the contest was certainly the strong defensive play by the Pack. Chadron State's 27 turnovers included a season-high 17 steals by CSU-Pueblo. The myriad of turnovers by the Eagles led to a season-high 33 points-off-turnovers for the ThunderWolves.
Chadron State finished the game with a better field goal percentage (43.2 percent to 37.7 percent), but the Pack outshot the Eagles from beyond the three-point line (31.6 percent to 22.2 percent) and from the free-throw line (76.9 percent to 64.0 percent). The remaining statistical categories were tight as CSU-Pueblo held the advantage in rebounds (37-36) and assists (12-10), while Chadron State recorded one block to the visitor's zero.
Katie Nehf (Sr., Broomfield, Colo.) matched her season high with 20 points to pace the ThunderWolves offensively. Nehf did a lot of her damage from the free-throw line where she made a career-high 10 shots from the charity stripe. The senior also set a new career high with seven steals.
Dee Arrieta (Jr., Pueblo West, Colo.), Angie Moore (So., Katy, Texas) and Ana Gurau (Jr., Longmont, Colo.) each scored in double figures with 10 points apiece. Arrieta added a team-best four assists.
Ashley Piper (Jr., Cedar Rapids, Iowa) posted a game-high seven rebounds to go along with nine points and five steals.
For the Eagles, Maka Daysh scored a team-high 14 points, while Stephanie Knowles added 11 points, seven rebounds and five assists.
The ThunderWolves jumped out to an early 8-1 advantage in the first 3:42, but Chadron State bounced back to tie the contest at 14-14 at the 11:21 mark of the first half.
The Eagles held their only lead of the game, at 22-20, with 6:38 remaining until halftime.
CSU-Pueblo closed the half on a 13-5 scoring run to take a 33-27 edge into the intermission. Tuileisu Anderson (Fr., Vancouver, Wash.) concluded the scoring in the opening stanza for the Pack with one of her two 3-pointers in the contest.
Coming out of the locker room, the ThunderWolves promptly pushed their lead to its largest margin of the day, at 44-29, with 3:53 elapsed in the second half.
Chadron State managed to trim the deficit to six points, at 45-39, with 12:12 showing on the game clock, but that is as close as it would get.
CSU-Pueblo put the game away with strong free-throw shooting down the stretch. The Pack made 12-of-14 attempts from the charity strip in the final 10:45 to close out the 72-58 victory.
The ThunderWolves are back in action Saturday with a 4 p.m. tilt at Black Hills State University in a rematch of last season's RMAC Shootout semifinals contest.
- 30 -
As a member of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, Colorado State University – Pueblo competes in 22 varsity sports in NCAA Division II intercollegiate athletics.
