UCCS comes up short against Chadron

COLORADO SPRINGS - The University of Colorado Colorado Springs fell for the second time in as many nights as they lost 69-57 to the Chadron State Eagles Friday evening at the Gallogly Events Center.

 Chadron State led by as many as 10 in a predominately Eagles led first-half that saw the Mountain Lions claw back to make it a five point game by intermission at 34-29.

 
The 3-point shot was the Eagles best friend in the first-half where they went 5-9 for a blistering 55.6 percent. MarlaMunsen spearheaded the attack going 2-3.
 

UCCS went on an 18-8 run midway through the second-half capped by a Sammi Gentile old-fashioned three-point play to take their first lead since the start of the game at 47-44.


The Mountain Lions held the lead as late as the 5:09 mark of the second-half but a series of five straight empty possessions marred by turnovers and bad shot selections allowed the Eagles to make a 9-0 run that made the score 60-52, virtually ending any hope of a comeback.

 

The loss marked the first time UCCS has dropped a pair of home games since Dec. 3 and Dec. 4 of 2010 when the Mountain Lions dropped a pair to Fort Lewis and Adams State respectively.

 

26 second-half free-throw attempts by Chadron State also factored heavily into this game where the Eagles seemed to be able to draw fouls nearly at will finishing the game 23 of 29 at the line.

 

Ashley Miller and Jessica Brown tied for the UCCS lead in scoring with 13 apiece while Gentile pulled down the most rebounds with eight.

 

Kaitlin Petri led Chadron State and all scorers with a game-high 24 points and 10 rebounds. Munsen contributed 13 points as well.

 

UCCS dropped to 10-9 overall and 5-8 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference while Chadron State improved to 5-12 and 5-8 in the RMAC.