CHADRON, Neb. – After coming up short in two high-scoring losses, Chadron State women's basketball will continue to battle as the RMAC season continues around the Denver area this upcoming week. 

The Eagles (4-16, 3-11 RMAC) will be on the road to face MSU Denver (6-16, 5-9 RMAC) on Thursday at 6 p.m. before facing Colorado School of Mines (8-14, 6-8 RMAC) on Saturday at 1 p.m. It will be the first meeting of the year between the Eagles and Roadrunners, while CSC previously lost at home to Mines 55-45 back on January 9.

Both games will be streamed by CSC Live on the RMAC Network. A radio broadcast will be available live on Double Q Country 97.5 and 105.9 FM or doubleqcountry.com, with Dave Collins on the call. Fans can also follow the game via live stats.

Looking Back
Chadron State had a game for the ages, falling 99-98 to Colorado Christian in overtime, before losing 86-77 to a talented CSU Pueblo roster two days later.

RECAPS: Colorado Christian | CSU Pueblo

The Eagles had a 22-point scorer in both games. Kyra Tanabe reached the mark against CCU, where three others (Megan Counts with 17 points, Allison Richards with 16 and Ashayla Powers with 13) scored in double figures. 

Against CSU Pueblo, Kylie Krise scored 22 points on 6 of 11 shooting, including three three-pointers, but reigning RMAC Defensive Player of the Year Alisha Little scored 29 points with 10 rebounds to lead CSU Pueblo. 

Positive Possessions
Despite playing five extra minutes with the game going to overtime, Chadron State put up a season-low nine turnovers in the loss to Colorado Christian. 

Also against the Cougars, the Eagles racked up a season-high 19 assists and had their second-best single-game field goal percentage of the season, hitting 48.6 percent. 

It was the Eagles' fourth game this season with 15 or more assists as a team and their first game with under 10 turnovers. Kyra Tanabe had eight assists in both the CCU game and the following game against CSU Pueblo, which are tied for the individual single-game high for the Eagles this season.

Putting Up Points
The 98 points scored by Chadron State last Thursday are the highest single-game total for CSC since the Eagles scored 102 in a double-overtime game against New Mexico Highlands in the 2013-14 season.

On November 25 of this season, Chadron State also had a 92-point game in regulation against York University. In games that remained in regulation, the York game was 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.

Chadron State has been able to score this season, as the Eagles' scoring offense of 65.3 points per game ranks sixth in the RMAC. The Eagles have four players (Kylie Krise, Allison Richards, Ashayla Powers and Kyra Tanabe) averaging between 9.5 and 11 points per game.

20-Pieces
Kylie Krise scored 22 points last Saturday against CSU Pueblo for her third 20-plus point game of the season, moving her into the team lead in 20-point games. 

Krise previously scored 23 against South Dakota Mines on December 5 and 25 against UCCS on December 14. The 25 against UCCS is the highest single-game scoring performance of the season for a CSC women's player. 
The Western Colorado transfer leads the Eagles in scoring at 10.9 points per game and is also the team's top three-point shooter at 36.9 percent. 

Kyra Tanabe recorded her first 20-point game of the season and second of her career with a 22-point night against Colorado Christian. Tanabe's 22 points are the most that the redshirt junior guard has scored since her career high of 24, coincidentally also against Colorado Christian, on January 31, 2023. 

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

The Eagles rank ninth in the country and second in the RMAC with a 79.1 percent team percentage from the charity stripe. They only trail Colorado Christian (81.2) among RMAC teams.

Chadron State is winning the free-throw battle with its opponents, as well, as teams playing CSC have combined to shoot 71.3 percent on average from the free-throw line. That percentage is the fourth lowest for opponents among the RMAC's 15 teams.

Cleaning the Glass
The Eagles have been getting after it on the boards this season, ranking third among all RMAC teams in total rebounds per game with 38.5 on average. 

Chadron State ranks fourth in total team defensive rebounds with 28.0 per contest and sixth in offensive boards with 10.6 per game. The Eagles are also sixth in rebounding margin, outrebounding their opponents by 1.6 boards per game.

Road Breakthrough?
Chadron State is still searching for its first road win of the season. The Eagles are 4-8 at home and 0-7 on the road. 

The Eagles have had some close calls, however, losing by one point to South Dakota Mines in its most recent road game. 

Road records have been a worrying trend for the Chadron State women's program, as the Eagles have not won more than two road games in a single season since 2016-17.

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. 

In the Polls
The only RMAC school in the national polls is Colorado Mesa, which is ranked No. 24 in the D2CSC Media Poll and is receiving votes in the WBCA Coaches Poll. The Eagles have faced multiple teams that are either ranked over receiving votes in both polls, including Montana State Billings (No. 16 in WBCA, No. 25 in D2CSC), and Southwest Minnesota State (No. 17/17). 

The D2CSC Regional Polls, an unofficial precursor to the NCAA's regional rankings that determine NCAA Tournament qualification, currently have four RMAC schools among the top 10 in the South Central region – Colorado Mesa at No. 4, Western Colorado at No. 5, Black Hills State at No. 7 and CSU Pueblo tied for ninth. 

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 Roadrunners
The Roadrunners from Metropolitan State University of Denver (MSU Denver) are 6-16 overall with a 5-9 record in RMAC play. The Roadrunners will enter Thursday's contest having lost five straight – to Colorado School of Mines, New Mexico Highlands, Fort Lewis, Colorado Mesa and Western Colorado.

Junior guard Mikayla Espinosa, an All-RMAC First Team a season ago, leads the Roadrunners with 14.7 points per game. Espinosa has five 20-plus point games this season, including in two of her last three outings, a 33-point game against UCCS on January 18 and a 20-point game against Mines on January 20. 

Espinosa has missed MSU Denver's last four games. The Roadrunners' only other double-figure scorer is freshman Neveah Millard at 10.0 points per game. MSU Denver specializes in low-scoring games, as the Roadrunners score the third-fewest points per game in the league (61.2). They are allowing 70.2 points per game, four-and-a-half points less than Chadron State. 

Head Coach Tanya Haave is in her 11^th season at MSUD. She is a three-time RMAC Coach of the Year (2011, 2012, 2018) and has won two regular-season RMAC Championships plus one RMAC Tournament. As a player, Haave played at the University of Tennesee for legendary head coach Pat Summitt. She was the Lady Vols' all-time scoring leader when she retired, and still currently ranks 10^th.

Scouting the Orediggers
Colorado School of Mines is 8-14 overall and 6-8 in the RMAC. The Orediggers previously beat Chadron State 55-45 at the Chicoine Center earlier this season. Heading into the weekend, the Orediggers have lost three straight, falling to Adams State before losing at Western Colorado and Westminster last weekend. 

The Orediggers have one of the top scorers in the league in Jenna Siebert, who ranks third in the RMAC with 19.5 points per game, behind only CMU's Olivia Reed and CSU Pueblo's Alisha Little. Siebert had a 34-point game against Minnesota State earlier this season. 

The Orediggers have two other double-figure scorers in Josephine Howery (10.5 ppg) and Emma Sixta (also 10.5). Those three players, in addition to redshirt freshman Peyton Freiermuth, all have over 50 assists. 

Mines scores 65.2 points per game (seventh in the RMAC) and allows 68.0 (ninth in the RMAC). The Orediggers are led by 13^th-year head coach Brittany Simpson, who has led the Orediggers to RMAC titles in 2016, 2021 and 2022 as well as five NCAA Tournament berths.

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.