CHADRON, Neb. – After playing the second-toughest schedule in Division II up to this point, the Chadron State women's basketball team is hoping that the RMAC will be a softer landing as conference play begins this week. 

The Eagles (1-5, 0-0 RMAC) will open the RMAC season against South Dakota Mines (0-8, 0-1 RMAC) at home this Thursday at 5 p.m. before facing Black Hills State (5-3, 1-0 RMAC) on the road Saturday at 1 p.m.

South Dakota Mines and Black Hills State kicked off the conference slate league-wide by facing one another on Tuesday night, with Black Hills defeating the Hardrockers 64-50. Every other RMAC team begins conference play Thursday, like the Eagles.

As a reminder, this season marks a change from previous years as the "traditional" RMAC basketball weekend will feature Thursday and Saturday games, rather than Friday and Saturday like the past several seasons. 

Fans can stream both of this week's games on the RMAC Network. Both contests will be broadcast live on Double Q Country 97.5 FM or doubleqcountry.com, with Dave Collins on the call. Single-game tickets are available for this Thursday's home conference opener.

Looking Back
The Eagles are currently 1-2 on their extended homestand, losing to Southwest Minnesota State 93-72 on November 20, defeating York University 92-72 on November 25 and falling to in-state rival Nebraska Kearney 86-59 last Saturday on November 30. 

RECAPS: SW Minnesota State | York | Nebraska-Kearney

The York victory featured three Chadron State players who combined to score 60 points, with Allison Richards putting in 21, Ashayla Powers scoring 20 and Kylie Krise netting 19 against the Panthers. 

Historic Scoring
The Eagles' 92-point explosion against York is the best offensive game in quite some time for the Chadron State women's program. 

The 92 points is the most points Chadron State has scored in a single game since the Eagles defeated New Mexico Highlands 102-99 in double overtime during the 2013-14 season.

In games that remained in regulation like last Monday's game, it is CSC's first overall 90-point game since beating Regis 91-54 in 2009-10 and the most points in regulation for CSC since the Eagles beat Johnson & Wales 98-70 all the way back in 2008-09.

Schedule Strength
According to the NCAA, Chadron State women's basketball has played the second-toughest schedule in the country for Division II up to this point in 2024-25. 

Chadron State's five Division II opponents (Wayne State, Montana State Billings, Simon Fraser, Southwest Minnesota State and Nebraska-Kearney) have a combined record of 30 wins and eight losses, a cumulative winning percentage of .789 that is the second highest for any DII school's slate of opponents. 

Montana State Billings is ranked No. 3 in the nation in the WBCA Coaches Poll. Undefeated Southwest Minnesota State is receiving votes in the WBCA poll and the D2CSC Media Poll.

The RMAC is well represented on the NCAA's toughest schedules list, with CSU Pueblo at No. 1 ahead of the Eagles having played teams with a combined record of 23-4 (.857). Behind CSC, Colorado School of Mines is No. 9, UCCS is No. 20 and Black Hills State is No. 24 on the toughest schedules list.

Power Up
Senior Ashayla Powers continued her good form last week, averaging 18 points, 10.5 rebounds and three steals per game and shooting 67 percent from the field across CSC's two games last week.

Against York, Powers chipped in to CSC's historic offensive effort by scoring 20 points and adding 13 rebounds for her second double-double of the season. Powers shot 9 of 11 from the field, including 9 of 10 from two-point range, and added a season-high four steals on the defensive ened. 

Against Nebraska-Kearney, Powers added 16 points and eight rebounds. She continued her hot shooting, making 5 of 10 from the floor and going a perfect 6-for-6 from the free-throw line. 

In the RMAC, Powers ranks fifth in the conference in scoring at 15.8 points per game, third in the league with a .578 field goal percentage and tied for fourth in the league with an .840 free throw percentage. Powers also ranks 12^th in the RMAC with 7.2 rebounds per game.

The double-double against York gives Powers 12 double-doubles in her career.

Stat Update
The Eagles have been consistently able to score this season, averaging the fourth-most points per game in the RMAC (67.0). The Eagles have been among the most efficient offensive teams in the RMAC. 

Chadron State currently ranks third in the league by shooting 41.9 percent from the field as a team. The Eagles are even better from the free-throw line, making 81.1 percent of their attempts to rank second in the conference and eighth in all of Division II.

The Eagles have three double-figure scorers, with senior Ashayla Powers (15.8 points per game), junior Allison Richards (12.8) and junior guard Camren Morris (10.7) all scoring over 10 points per game. 

Morris is coming off a season-high 18 points on 8-13 shooting against Nebraska-Kearney. She is also the team's three-point percentage leader, shooting 39.1 percent from beyond the arc.

In addition to being the team's leading scorer, Powers leads the team in rebounds per game (7.2) and steals (10). Two CSC players, Kyra Tanabe with 13 and Kadyn Comer with 10, have double-digit assists.

Junior Kylie Krise is having a well-rounded season, averaging a block per game to lead the team in that category while averaging 8.7 points, 3.2 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game.

In the Polls
Currently, no RMAC schools are ranked in either the WBCA Coaches Poll or the D2CSC Media Poll. Colorado Mesa is receiving votes in both polls.

In a vote of the league's head coaches, Chadron State women's basketball earned a 13^th-place projection in the RMAC Preseason Coaches Poll, one spot higher than the Eagles finished in an injury-riddled year last season.

Five different schools received first-place votes in the poll, fitting for a conference that had a four-way tie for the regular season title last season. Colorado Mesa, the only RMAC school to reach the second round of the NCAA Tournament last season, led the poll, followed by UCCS, CSU Pueblo, Adams State, Colorado School of Mines and Regis.

MSU Denver and Colorado Christian snared the final RMAC Tournament positions in the preseason poll, followed by Black Hills State, Western Colorado, South Dakota Mines and Fort Lewis. After the Eagles in 13^th, the poll is rounded out by New Mexico Highlands and Westminster. 

Scouting the Hardrockers
South Dakota Mines will come into Thursday's game 0-8 overall, with one RMAC loss on Tuesday to Black Hills State. The Hardrockers are scoring 53.0 points per game and allowing 74.5 points per contest.

The Hardrockers have three double-figure scorers in junior Savea Mansfield (11.6 points per game), senior Piper Bauer (11.1) and redshirt sophomore Morning Grace Spotted Bear (10.4). 

Spotted Bear leads SDM and ranks 13^th in the RMAC with 6.9 rebounds per game, and also led the Hardrockers with 16 points against Black Hills State Tuesday. Junior guard Miquedah Taliman scored a season-high 14 points against the Yellow Jackets. 

Head Coach Jeri Owsley has been with South Dakota Mines since the 2019-20 season. She has led the Hardrockers to two RMAC Tournament berths. Historically, South Dakota Mines is 17-6 against Chadron State, but the two programs have split the last six meetings.

Scouting the Yellow Jackets
Courtesy of their win over South Dakota Mines on Tuesday, Black Hills State is, for now, in sole possession of first place in the RMAC at 1-0 in conference play. The Yellow Jackets are 5-3 overall. 

BHSU has one common opponent with Chadron State, having lost to Southwest Minnesota State 82-60 on November 22 (the Eagles lost 93-72 two days prior). The Yellow Jackets have three veteran double-figure scorers – senior and returning All-RMAC Second Teamer Kalla Bertram (14 points per game), senior Haylee Weathersby (13.4) and grad student Morgan Hammerbeck (10.0). 

Freshman Bradie Schlabs, the sister of CSC football player Garet Schlabs, has emerged in the starting lineup for the Yellow Jackets, averaging 8.9 points and 5.6 rebounds per game. She notched her first career double-double with 11 points and 12 rebounds against Sioux Falls.

BHSU Head Coach Rachel Erickson, a Yellow Jacket alum, is in her first season in charge of the program. Black Hills State has owned the series history, winning 25 of 27 matchups since 2006, including each of the last 12.

Coach's Corner
Head Coach Travis Brewster is back for his second season leading the Chadron State women's basketball program. 

A veteran head coach, Brewster was previously a head coach at the University of North Dakota for eight seasons, going 128-120 with the Fighting Hawks and winning two Big Sky Coach of the Year awards in 2014 and 2017. In his time at UND, Brewster won two Big Sky co-regular season championships and one Big Sky tournament championship with one NCAA Tournament appearance in 2014 and one WNIT appearance in 2017.  

He was also a head coach for two seasons with Saint Xavier (NAIA), where he put together a 45-16 record. He was the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association (IBCA) Coach of the Year in 2022, a year he also led Saint Xavier to a conference championship and NAIA national tournament berth. 

As a student-athlete, Brewster competed at Iowa Lakes Community College and Charleston Southern University before playing professionally in Switzerland and Ireland.