PUEBLO, Colo. – Colorado State University Pueblo women's basketball opened Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play here Friday evening by using a double-double from redshirt junior forward Alisha Little (Aurora, Colo./Northern Colorado) and strong defense to post a hard-fought 62-52 victory over Chadron State at Massari Arena.
 
With the victory, the ThunderWolves extended their win streak to four straight games and improved to 5-3 overall and 1-0 in the RMAC, while Chadron State fell to 2-4 overall and 0-1 in the league. The Pack will remain at home to host Colorado Christian on Saturday, Dec. 2 at 4 p.m.
 
Little finished the game with her RMAC-leading fifth double-double this season as she had 16 points and 13 rebounds and added four blocks, three steals and three assists in the win. Along with being the fifth double-double of the season, it was also the 10th of her Pack career.
 
Along with Little's double-double, the Pack win was also keyed from a strong defensive effort as they held the Eagles to 31 percent shooting from the field and 25 percent shooting from the 3-point line and forced 26 turnovers that led to 23 points.
 
The defense was especially strong in the first half as the Pack held the Eagles to four first quarter points and just 21 first half points as the Pack led 29-21 at the half.
 
Chadron opened the game making just one of its first 13 shots and committed nine first quarter turnovers that led to eight Pack points. The Pack outscored the Eagles, 17-4 in the opening quarter with Little scoring eight of the Pack's 17 points.
 
Along with Little, redshirt junior forward Autumn Watts (Centennial, Colo./McNeese State) added 15 points, eight rebounds, four assists, three steals and two blocks. The third double-digit scorer for the Pack was junior guard Landri Hudson (Aurora, Colo./University of Wyoming) as she tallied 14 points, including making a game-high four 3-pointers. All 14 of Hudson's points came in the second half.
 
While the Pack defense was strong in the first quarter, the Pack offense struggled in the quarter as they shot just 27 percent from the field and was 1-for-5 from the 3-point line in the quarter. The Pack did go 6-for-7 from the free throw line in the opening quarter.
 
CSC, though, would outscore the Pack, 17-14, in the second quarter to cut the Pack lead to eight points at the half.
 
The Pack would open the third quarter on a 16-10 run to push its lead to 45-31 just five minutes left in the period, but CSC would respond with an 11-1 run to cut the Pack's lead to 46-42 with 2:08 left in the quarter. Hudson, though, would give the Pack a 49-42 on a three-pointer with two seconds left in the quarter to give the Pack a 49-42 lead heading into the final quarter.
 
CSU Pueblo scored eight of the first 10 points in the final quarter to take a 57-44 lead following a lay-up by Watts with 4:38 left in the game. The Eagles would respond with an 8-3 run to cut the Pack lead to 60-52 with 1:23 left in the game. That would be as close as CSC would get as Little scored on a lay-up with 49 seconds left to cap the scoring and seal the Pack's win to improve to 4-1 in RMAC openers under Pack head coach Tommie Johnson.
 
Liberty Line paced Chadron State with 14 points and added three assists and five steals. Line scored 10 of her points at the free throw line as she was 10-for-11 at the free throw line. In addition to Line, Kylie Krise added 10 points and Megan Counts finished with eight points and five rebounds.
 
The Pack finished the game shooting 37 percent from the field and 28 percent from the 3-point line but was outrebounded 39-35 and blocked eight shots and collected 13 steals.
 
Both teams combined to shoot 34 free throws in the game as CSC was 18-for-21 (85.7 percent) from the free throw line, while the Pack was 9-for-13 (69.2 percent) at the line.
 
The Pack will look to make its five straight wins as they conclude its season-long five-game homestand with a 4 p.m. game against CCU. The Cougars opened RMAC play with a 74-73 loss Friday at New Mexico Highlands.