CHADRON, Neb. – Colorado State University Pueblo women's basketball put four players in double figures and scored a season-high 86 points in posting an 86-77 win here Saturday afternoon over Chadron State in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference action at the Chicoine Center.
With the win, the ThunderWolves improve to 14-8 overall and 9-5 in the RMAC, while Chadron State fell to 4-16 overall and 3-11 in the league. The victory moved the Pack into a tie with Adams State for fourth place in the RMAC standings.
After playing to a 61-all tie after three periods of play, the Pack outscored the Eagles, 25-16, in the final period, including redshirt senior forward
Alisha Little (Aurora, Colo./University of Northern Colorado) scoring 13 of her game-high 29 points in the period. Little scored the Pack's first eight points of the period to give the Pack a 69-66 lead.
The Pack eventually pushed its lead to 13 points at 84-71 following two free throws by junior guard
Genesis Sweetwine (Aurora, Colo./Northeastern JC) with 43.3 seconds left. The Eagles would score five of the final seven points of the period to set the final margin.
In addition to her 29 points, Little added 10 rebounds for her 18th double-double of the season and 47th of her career. Little also added three blocked shots in the win.
Along with Little's double-double, senior guard
Tomia Johnson (Colorado Springs, Colo./Florida Gulf Coast) added 18 points, while Sweetwine tallied 12 points and a career-high tying five assists off the bench. The fourth double-digit scorer was senior guard
Yara Garcia (Scottsbluff, Neb./Western Nebraska CC) as she had 10 points playing just 98 miles from her hometown.
The game featured three ties in the opening four minutes of the contest, until the Pack used an 11-2 run to take a 21-12 lead with 3:53 left in the opening period. The run was keyed by five points from Little, who scored nine points in the period after being held scoreless in the first period of Thursday's game at Black Hills State.
CSU Pueblo would eventually push its lead to 23-12 following a lay-up by Garcia, before CSC scored six of the final eight points of the period to cut the Pack's lead to 25-18 after the opening 10 minutes of play.
After making just one 3-pointer in the first period, the Eagles got hot from the perimeter as they made four of their seven 3-point attempts in the second period to help CSC outscore the Pack, 20-15, in the period to cut CSU Pueblo's lead to 40-38 at the half.
The Eagles opened the second period on a 18-11 run to tie the game at 36-all with 2:54 left in the period following back-to-back treys from Malorie Bryne and Kylie Kruse.
Following Kruse's trey, Johnson hit a floating jump shot to give the Pack a 38-36 lead. On the play, Johnson was fouled, but she missed the free throw to keep the score 38-36 with 1:28 left in the period. CSC would tie the game with three seconds left on a basket by Liberty Line, but on the ensuing possession, Sweetwine was fouled with 0.5 seconds left and she drilled two free throws to give the Pack a 40-38 lead.
After trailing 40-38 at the half, CSC opened the third period on as 13-6 run capped by three straight 3-pointers to take a 51-46 lead with 6:18 left in the period. Two of those treys came from Byrne, who entered the game 0-for-12 from the 3-point line on the season.
The Eagles' lead would eventually grow to 55-48 with 4:56 left in the period, before the Pack responded with a 13-7 run to pull within 61-all at the end of the third period. Johnson and Little combined to score eight of those 13 points during the run.
Krise led Chadron State with 22 points, while Megan Counts added 12 points and nine rebounds and Kyra Tanabe tallied 11 points and had eight assists for the Eagles.
The Pack finished the game shooting a season-high 53 percent from the field and was 4-for-18 (22.2 percent) from the 3-point line, while CSC shot 47 percent from the field and 39 percent (9-for-23) from downtown.
Chadron State outrebounded the Pack, 36-27, including an 11-7 edge on the offensive glass, but the Pack forced 18 turnovers that led to 23 points. The Pack had 11 turnovers in the game.
The Pack outshot the Eagles, 29-15, from the free throw line as the Pack finished the game 22-for-29 (76 percent) at the line, including an 11-for-13 effort from the line in the fourth period. CSC was 14-for-15 (93.9 percent) from the line, including 7-for-8 in the second half.
The Pack will complete the three-game road swing with a 6 p.m. game on Tuesday, Feb. 11 in Lakewood, Colo., against Colorado Christian. The Pack picked up a 66-63 home win over the Cougars on Jan. 9.
