CHADRON, Neb. -- December 13, 2019 -- After splitting their Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference openers at home last weekend, the Chadron State College basketball teams are headed to the Western Slope of Colorado for a pair of double-headers this weekend.

The Eagles will visit Western Colorado in Gunnison on Friday night and Colorado Mesa in Grand Junction on Saturday.  The action will tip off at 5:30 both dates.

This past weekend, the CSC women, now 3-8, lost to Colorado Christian 69-54 on Friday night but rallied past Regis 69-65 on Saturday night, when sophomore point guard Jori Peters of Mitchell scored a career-high 24 points.

The Eagles' men, 2-6, toppled Colorado Christian 79-60, but got caught in a free throw marathon (41-48) the next night and lost to Regis 97-89.

The Western women lost their first two games this season, but have won four straight since then.  Last weekend they hit the road and held both opponents to fewer than 50 points. They downed Colorado Mines 66-48 and defeated Colorado-Colorado Springs 65-43.

Just one Lady Mountaineer, Samantha Coleman, a 5-9 junior, is scoring in double figures. She has a 13-point average, but has tallied as many as 25 points and has hit 20 of 37 three-point attempts. Another Coleman, Taytem, is second on the scoring list with an 8.7 average.  They apparently are not related. Samantha is from Las Vegas, Nev., and Taytem is from Lincoln, Neb.

The Western men are 3-5 after losing both games on their road trip last weekend. Colorado Mines won 86-67 and Colorado Springs prevailed 69-50. Three Mountaineers are averaging in double digits, led by 6-10 freshman Josh Tomasi, at 14.3.  An Australian, he tallied 28 points in his first game in America and also has scored 25. Jackson Ehrlin, a 6-9 junior, is averaging 12 points and poured in 30 points during an 86-82 win over Missouri Western on Nov 30.

Both "big guys" are averaging nearly seven rebounds.

The Mesa women lost their second game of the season to Tarleton State of Texas 57-53, but have won the remaining six.  Last weekend, they overwhelmed Colorado Springs 69-40 and nipped Colorado Mines 55-53.

Daniella Turner, a 5-10 junior from Florida, played a big role in last weekend's success.  She tallied 24 points in the first game and 29 in the second.  Both were career highs. Another big gun for the Lady Mavericks is 6-1 Kelsey Siemons, who is averaging 11.6 points and has sunk half of her 36 shots from behind the arc.

The Mesa men are 5-3. They lost their first two games by a total of four points during a classic in Texas. The Mavs then won five straight, including a 75-72 nailbiter over Colorado Springs, before losing to the Mines Orediggers 87-76 Saturday night. George Dancer, a 6-3 junior, scored 21 points in both of latter games.

Both Dancer and Tommy Nuno, a 6-5 senior, are averaging 15.8 points.  Michael Skinner, a 6-3 senior, is averaging 12.6 points and has poured in 23 and 27 points.