CHADRON, Neb. – Chadron State women's basketball led for much of the first half and trailed by a point at halftime before a late CSU Pueblo run gave the visiting ThunderWolves a 66-54 win in a Thursday morning Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference contest.

Freshman Ella Moser scored 17 points, a career-high for the Cedar Rapids, Iowa native and senior McKenzi Petersen had 13 for the Eagles (0-6, 0-3 RMAC), who still arguably played their best game so far this season in defeat against first-year head coach Jalen Little's former program. 

"We're getting there," Little said postgame. "We've just got to keep working."

The Eagles shot the ball well. They made 22 of their 48 field goal attempts to shoot 45.8 percent as a team after not shooting better than 35.7 percent in their previous five games.  Their shooting included hitting seven of 13 three-pointers in the first half, allowing them to stay with the ThunderWolves, who made six on 19 from behind the arc in the half.   

Chadron State got off to an excellent start when forward Bianca Bindzus nailed a three-pointer on the game's opening shot. After Pueblo had turned the ball over twice, the Eagles went ahead 5-0 on a jumper by freshman Kenna Wagner. 

With Bindzus making another trey and junior Jordan Stokes following suit, the Eagles never trailed in the opening quarter until Pueblo's Genesis Sweetwine also sank a shot from behind the arc to put her team ahead 14-11.

Each team knocked down four three-pointers in the second quarter. Moser made three of the Eagles' treys in the period, including two on consecutive shots less than a minute apart.  She then followed with a layup that put the Eagles ahead 22-19 midway in the second frame. 

As the first half was winding down, Moser canned another trey to put CSC up 29-27, but Pueblo retaliated with a three-pointer by Ruby Sweeney-Spitzeck with four seconds remaining to give the visitors their one-point halftime edge.

Try as they may, Chadron State never got the lead back.  The teams traded baskets to open the second half, but the visiting Pack scored the next 10 points to take a 43-31 lead.

Pueblo was still ahead 50-43 entering the fourth quarter, but back-to-back baskets by Petersen allowed the Eagles to cut the margin to three points with 8 ½ minutes remaining.  However, Chadron State did not score in the next five minutes while Pueblo went on a 14-0 run to seal the outcome.

Sweetwine scored half of her team's points during the fateful rally. The senior guard and classmate Sweeney-Spitzeck, who also grabbed a game-high nine rebounds, were among the three ThunderWolves to share team scoring honors with 15 points. The other was freshman post Jada Bobb.   

Petersen led CSC in rebounding with eight.  
 
While the Eagles shot the ball well and made the visitors work for their points, there were a couple of areas where the Eagles did not fare so well. They turned the ball over 29 times, 11 more than Pueblo, and they were just two of three at the free throw line while the visitors went 12 of 16 at the charity stripe. 

The Eagles will be back home to take on UCCS at 1 p.m. Saturday.  

CSU-Pueblo—Jada Bobb 15. Genesis Sweetwine 15, Ruby Sweeney-Spitzeck 15, Anyla Owens 9, Seneya Martinez 7, Wynter Jones 4, Dasani Nesbit 1. Totals: 22-61 FG (10-33 3PT) 12-16 FT. 66 points, 33 rebounds, 13 assists, 18 turnovers.

Chadron State—Ella Moser 17, McKenzi Petersen 13, Bianca Bindzus 6, Jordyn Stokes 6, Kenna Wagner 6, Amya Winfrey 4, Audrey Quintana 2. Totals: 22-48 FG (8-17 3PT) 2-3 FT. 54 points, 34 rebounds, 13 assists, 29 turnovers.