CHADRON, Neb. - The University of Colorado Colorado Springs shot 61 percent from the field in the first half, but struggled in the second half as Chadron State (4-13 / 4-9 RMAC) won 72-70 in the final seconds against the Mountain Lions (16-3 / 11-2 RMAC). Abby Kirchoff led UCCS with 24 points for her 10th 20-point game of the season.

UCCS will see its winning streak snapped at eight games, matching the program record from the 2012-13 and 1992-93 seasons. Brittany Hernandez added 12 points with two blocked shots and three steals.

The Mountain Lions turned a one-point Chadron State lead with 13 minutes left in the first half into a nine-point advantage at 31-22 with 6:26 left in the period. UCCS led by as many as 12 points in the half with 44 seconds to play, but the Eagles cut it down to a 10-point lead at halftime on a jumper with 28 seconds before the break.

Kenzi Mitchell had nine points by halftime to more than double her scoring output from the entire season. She went four-of-four from the field with a three-pointer along with two assists in the first period.

Hernandez made it a 12-point lead again on the Mountain Lions' first possession of the second half before Chadron State responded with an 11-2 run to cut the UCCS lead down to three points at 49-46. The Mountain Lions scored the next six points to push the lead back to nine points, but the Eagles scored the following seven points to make it a 55-53 game with 8:47 to play.

UCCS took a three-possession lead once again at 60-53 with 7:27 to play, but Chadron assembled an 11-3 run to hold a 64-63 lead with 2:37 in the game. Kirchoff put the Mountain Lions ahead at 70-69 with 39 seconds to play to force the Eagles to take a shot before the end of the game. Chadron State drove to the basket to draw a foul, and then converted on one of the two shots to tie the game at 70-70. Chadron State stole the ball on the next Mountain Lion possession, but Kirchoff blocked the shot to setup the inbounds play for the Eagles underneath their basket with 5 seconds to play.

The Eagles went ahead at 72-70 with 1.4 seconds to play on the inbounds play. A timeout by Head Coach Shawn Nelson was not heard by the officiating crew, and the clock was allowed to expire. Before the officials left the court, which would have finalized the result with no appeal, Nelson stopped the officials and the timeout was granted with the 1.4 seconds on the clock. A long pass to half court was broken up the Eagles and the game ended at 72-70.

The Mountain Lions shot 61 percent from the field in the first half, but went eight-of-30 in the second half and one-of-10 from the three-point line.  Chadron State scored 18 points off of free throws while UCCS attempted only 15.

The Mountain Lions remain in first in the conference standings and are tied with Colorado Mesa with an 11-2 conference record. UCCS will return home next Friday against Western New Mexico for a 5:30 p.m., contest. The Mountain Lions won the first meeting against the Mustangs 74-63 on Dec. 20.