Athletics

Trio leads CSC women to third straight win

Jan 14, 2012

Chadron State's Rachael Smidt goes up for a layup against Western New Mexico Saturday in Chadron. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

CHADRON – Three veterans combined to score 53 points, grab 22 rebounds and commit just three turnovers Saturday night as the Chadron State College women rallied past Western New Mexico 81-70 in a Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference game in Armstrong Gymnasium.

Box Score

Senior guard Kaitlin Petri scored 20 points and collected nine rebounds, junior center Sadie Waugh contributed 17 points and seven rebounds and junior forward Rachael Smidt added 16 points and six rebounds for the Eagles, who have now won three games in a row.

The Eagles got off to a slow start. They trailed the winless Mustangs 15-4 after the first six minutes and 18 seconds and were still behind 31-28 at halftime.

The Eagles took the lead for keeps with 13:37 to play on a 3-pointer by freshman guard Dallas Shaw, but they were ahead by just 58-56 before exploding for 14 consecutive points in four minutes to break the game open.

Smidt, who also scored 16 points on Friday night as the Eagles edged New Mexico Highlands 64-60, got the winning rally started by making left-handed layups three consecutive trips down the floor. Kada Williams and Waugh followed by going four-for-four from the free throw line.

The Eagles shot just 26.7 percent (8-30) from the field in the first half, but meshed 56.7 percent (17-30) in the second half to finish at 41.7 for the game. They out-rebounded the Mustangs 46 to 32 and committed just nine turnovers.

Western New Mexico also put three players in double figures. Amanda Tucker scored 16 points, Morgan Wohltman 15 and Kassie Scott 11. Wohltman collected nine rebounds to tie Petri for game-high honors.

Both the CSC men, who also swept their New Mexico visitors this weekend, and the women will play at Colorado State University-Pueblo and the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs this coming weekend.

Western New Mexico          31           39          ----70

Chadron State                        28           53         ----81

—Con Marshall