CHADRON, Neb. – After a road trip through southern Colorado and northern New Mexico, Chadron State women's basketball will have two more home games at the Chicoine Center this upcoming weekend. 

The Eagles (2-12, 1-7 RMAC) begin the week with a matchup against Westminster (3-12, 2-6) on Thursday at 5 p.m. before Colorado Mesa (11-4, 6-2) comes to town for a Saturday game at 1 p.m. 

Both games will be live streamed by CSC Live on the RMAC Network. They will also be broadcast on the radio on Double Q Country 97.5 and 105.9 FM with Dave Collins on the call. Tickets remain available for both games and can be purchased online or at the door. 

Looking Back
Chadron State lost two RMAC games on the road last week, with Adams State defeating the Eagles 82-59 and New Mexico Highlands knocking off CSC 95-76.

RECAPS: Adams State | New Mexico Highlands

Kylie Krise was a standout player throughout the weekend, averaging 14.5 points and seven rebounds per game while hitting six three-pointers across the two games. 

Krise scored 14 points with eight rebounds while hitting 4 of 8 from the field, 3 of 5 from deep and all three from the line. On Saturday, Krise finished with 15 points, six rebounds and a block while hitting 5 of 8 from the field and 3 of 4 from beyond the arc. 

Finding The Net
Despite the two losses, Chadron State's offense put together a pair of good performances last week. 

The 76 points scored against New Mexico Highlands was the second highest point total this season for the Eagles, behind only a 92-point explosion against NAIA opponent York University back on November 25. That 92-point game was Chadron State's highest regulation point total since the 2008-09 season. 

Last week's games also saw plenty of splashing from three-point range. The Eagles sank seven three-pointers in both contests, tied for the fourth-most in a game this season. 

By three-point percentage, the game against NMHU was Chadron State's fourth-best performance of the season (7-18, .389) and the game against Adams State was CSC's fifth-best single game percentage (7-19, .368). 

Free Throw Frenzy
Chadron State is one of the best free throw shooting teams in all of Division II. 

The Eagles rank 10^th in the country and second in the RMAC with a 79.2 percent team percentage from the charity stripe. They only narrowly trail Colorado Christian (80.2) among RMAC teams.

Individually, Ashayla Powers ranks fifth in the RMAC with her .800 free throw percentage, having made 36 of 45 attempts. Kadyn Comer (1.000), Allison Richards (.893), Kyra Tanabe (.893), Jordyn Stokes (.857) and Bati Assefa (.846) are all players logging over 10 minutes per game for the Eagles that have been exceptional from the line but don't quite have the volume to qualify for conference or national leaderboards.

The Eagles also went 6-for-7 from the free-throw line against Adams State, marking the seventh time this season in 14 games that the Eagles have missed two or fewer foul shots.

Saturday's opponent, Colorado Mesa, is also a good free throw shooting team, with the Mavericks right behind CSC at 12^th in the nation and third in the RMAC at 78.8 percent.

Top and Bottom
Chadron State has the seventh-ranked scoring offense in the league, but much of this season's difficulty has come due to Chadron State currently giving up the most points per game in the RMAC at 76.9 per game. 

This week's games will be an interesting measuring stick for the Eagles' defensive progress, as CSC is due to face both the top-ranked and bottom-ranked scoring offenses in the conference. 

Westminster, CSC's opponent on Thursday, is averaging 54.9 points per game and is the only RMAC team averaging under 60. Chadron State has only held one opponent under 60 points so far this season. The Griffins are shooting 35.8 percent from the field as a team and 26.6 percent from deep. 

On Saturday, the Eagles will have their hands full as Colorado Mesa will come in leading the league with their 72.3 points per game. The Mavericks have a team field goal percentage of 44.3 percent and are shooting 32.6 percent from three, making 7.4 three-pointers per game. 

Deep Bench
Chadron State currently ranks third in the RMAC in bench points, receiving 20.8 points per game from non-starting players. 

Head Coach Travis Brewster has rotated his players frequently all season. The Eagles have only two players averaging over 25 minutes per game – Kyra Tanabe (26.7) and Allison Richards (25.5). 

Chadron State has seven players averaging over 15 minutes per game and 10 players averaging over 10 minutes per game, however. A total of 14 players have appeared in a game for the Eagles this season, and of those, only three players have appeared in fewer than 10 games and none have appeared in fewer than six. 

Record Breaker
Ashayla Powers cemented her name among the Chadron State women's basketball greats when she became the program's all-time career rebounding leader with 615 rebounds. 

Powers achieved the milestone during the January 11 game against Regis, with her seventh and final rebound of the night lifting the senior past Eagle alumni Shauna Smith (1990-94) and Lorna Dahlgren (1991-95), who were tied at 614. Coincidentally, Powers broke the record in her 100^th career college game. 

Tough Competition
Chadron State has been challenged so far this season by playing quality opponents. 

The Eagles' opposition has a combined record of 130 wins and 91 losses for a .588 winning percentage. By that metric, Chadron State has played the 21^st-toughest schedule in the country and the toughest in the RMAC. 

Chadron State's five Division II nonconference opponents (Wayne State, Montana State Billings, Simon Fraser, Southwest Minnesota State and Nebraska-Kearney) have a combined record of 64-23 (.735). That includes several teams with impressive records in Montana State Billings (16-4), Southwest Minnesota State (16-2) and Nebraska-Kearney (13-3).

In the Polls
Currently, no RMAC schools are ranked in either the WBCA Coaches Poll or the D2CSC Media Poll. The Eagles have faced multiple teams that are either ranked over receiving votes in both polls, including Montana State Billings (No. 20 in WBCA, RV in D2CSC), and Southwest Minnesota State (No. 23/22). 

The D2CSC Regional Polls rank four RMAC schools among the top 10 in the South Central region – Black Hills State at No. 4, Colorado Mesa at No. 5, Western Colorado at No. 7 and CSU Pueblo at No. 9. The Eagles have faced CSU Pueblo and Black Hills State so far this year. 

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 Griffins
Westminster is 3-12 overall with a 2-6 RMAC record. All of Westminster's wins have come against RMAC opponents, as the Griffins knocked off Fort Lewis 61-58 in nonconference play before earning wins over MSU Denver (54-51) and Adams State (83-78, OT) in RMAC wins. 

Last week, the Griffins lost 83-43 to Western Colorado in Salt Lake City and 88-49 to Colorado Mesa on the road in Grand Junction. The Griffins were picked 15^th and last in the RMAC preseason poll, two spots behind Chadron State. 

The Griffins have two double-digit scorers in junior guard Teuila Nawahine (12.1 points per game) and grad student Abby Conlee (10.0). Nawahine scored 13 points in each of Westminster's two games last week, while Conlee didn't play in either one. 

Westminster has one of the top rebounders in the RMAC in senior Maunayia Harrigfeld, who is fourth in the RMAC with 10.1 rebounds per game. Harrigfeld averaged 14 rebounds per game during a five-game stretch from December 14-January 11. 

The Griffins are coached by second-year head coach Asami Morita, who joined the Griffins after two years as an assistant coach at the University of Nevada, Reno (DI). She has also coached at Arizona Western College and abroad in her native Japan.

Scouting the Mavericks
Colorado Mesa has an 11-4 overall record and a 6-2 mark in conference play. The Mavericks have won four in a row and six of seven, with the only loss in that span coming to No. 8 Pittsburg State. 

The Mavericks were picked to win the RMAC in the preseason poll after finishing in a four-way tie for the regular season crown last year. Colorado Mesa advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament last season. 

The Mavericks are led by All-American Olivia Reed, who ranks second in the RMAC and fifth in Division II in scoring with 22.6 points per game and leads the RMAC and ranks third in the nation with 11.9 boards per game. Reed has racked up 10 double-doubles this season. 

Olivia Reed is the daughter of former Chadron State men's basketball head coach Houston Reed. Olivia spent her freshman and sophomore seasons at Chadron High School. 

Behind Reed, Colorado Mesa features double-digit scoring from Riley Hayes (14.2 points per game) and Kylie Kravig (10.7). Kravig also leads the RMAC with 7.0 assists per game. CMU Head Coach Taylor Wagner has won six RMAC Coach of the Year awards in his 12 seasons at Colorado Mesa.

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.