The Chadron State College basketball teams will visit Black Hills State in Spearfish on Thursday night for their only games this week. The Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference doubleheader was initially set for Saturday night, but was changed at the request of Black Hills, which will begin its second semester classes that day. The women's game at 5:30 will tip off the action.
 
Both Chadron State teams were competitive, but lost both of their games while playing at Fort Lewis and Adams State. Fort Lewis edged the CSC women 85-83 on a last-second layup and Adams State won 66-54 in overtime.
 
Although the CSC men outscored both Fort Lewis and Adams State from the field, the Eagles could not keep pace at the free throw line. The Skyhawks won 78-72 Friday night and the Grizzlies prevailed 86-74 Saturday night.
 
The Yellow Jackets' women have been playing particularly well. They are 7-4 overall and 6-2 in the conference, good for third place in the standings behind only Colorado Mesa and CSU-Pueblo, both of which are undefeated in league play.  
 
After losing at both Western State and Colorado Mesa to open their RMAC schedule, the Lady Jackets have reeled off six straight conference victories. Last weekend, they downed Adams State 82-48 and beat Fort Lewis 77-69 while playing the same teams that the CSC women met, only in reverse order.
 
Their team leader is 5-foot-10 junior Chelsey Biegler, who is shooting 51 percent from the field and averaging 15 points.  She scored 48 points in the two games against the Eagles last season.
 
Also scoring in double figures this year is 6-1 senior Calli Bechtel at 11.1 points a game. Bechtel is also averaging a team-best 4.9 rebounds a game, but the Black Hills women are being out-rebounded by nearly three a game.
 
The Chadron State women are paced by seniors Kattie Ranta and Kayli Rageth. Both are in the top 10 of the RMAC in scoring – Rageth averages 16.6 points while Ranta isn't far behind at 15.5 – and Ranta is among the Division II leaders in double doubles with eight.
 
The Black Hills men are 5-6 for the season and 3-5 in the RMAC. Their conference fortunes are almost a reverse of the women's. The men opened RMAC play with wins at Western State and Colorado Mesa in early December, but have defeated only Regis in their last six league contests.
 
Last weekend, Adams State beat the Yellow Jackets 92-78 and Fort Lewis won 86-75.
 
Black Hills' top scorer is 6-3 senior Tommy Earl at 17 points a game.  He's shooting 58 percent from the field, including 48.6 percent from 3-point range, and 84 percent from the free throw line.
 
Earl began his college career at Metro State, but transferred to Black Hills two years ago and averaged 12.5 points a game before redshirting last season.
 
Sophomore guard Myles Henry is averaging 12.5 points a game and junior forward Yoshio Allen an even 12 points.  Both transferred from community colleges this season.
 
Six Chadron State men are scoring at least seven points per game, led by senior Zac Bargen at 12.3 points.