Box Score The NMHU Women's Basketball team lost on the road to the Eagles of Chadron State College, 64-60. The Cowgirls took the initial lead in the game, but the Eagles tied the game up at eight points apiece with 14:08 left in the first half. At that point the Eagles took control of the first half of play and would lead by as much as seven points. When the buzzer sounded for halftime, Chadron State had a five point lead, 29-24. At the start of the second half,
Whitley Coca hit a three-point shot to cut the Eagles' lead to two points. Then the Cowgirls tied the game up at 29 apiece with a
Tanee' Denson-Griffin lay-up off the fast break. The teams went back and forth, until the Cowgirls gained the advantage when
Eboni Jacobs hit a three-pointer with 13:32 left in the game. The Cowgirls would lead by as much as six points in the second half, but Chadron State regained their composure and turned the game back in their favor. With only 2:27 left in the game, the Eagles were up by seven points, but the Cowgirls tried to make a comeback. Two free-throw shots by
China Smith tied the game up at 58 apiece with only 48 seconds on the clock. The Eagles regained the lead by two points, seconds later, and an untimely turnover by the Cowgirls allowed Chadron to extend their lead to four with time running out. When the final buzzer sounded, it was the Eagles who would capture the victory on their home court by the final score of 64-60. With the loss the Cowgirls, led by Head Coach Tiffany Darling, fall to a 4-7 record in the RMAC and 8-7 in overall play.
Tanee' Denson-Griffin was the leading scorer in the game for the Cowgirls with 17 points. She led all scorers in the game and grabbed 10 rebounds to secure her third double-double performance of the season. Denson-Griffin shot 7-14 from the field and made three of her four attempts from the charity stripe.
Whitley Coca had a good night for the Cowgirls, scoring 12 points in the game. Coca also added six rebounds and five assists to the Cowgirls' efforts.
China Smith turned in a good performance off the bench for the Cowgirls. She scored 12 points and snatched eight rebounds in the game. Smith was 3-6 from the field and sank 6-9 from the free-throw line.
The Cowgirls had a good night from the free-throw line, shooting 68% in the game. They also out-rebounded the Eagles 48-45, but Chadron State shot 38.5% from the field compared to 34.8% for the Cowgirls. In the end the Eagles took advantage of their home court advantage to come away with the four point victory.
The Cowgirls will continue conference action again, on 1/14, as they travel to Kearney, Neb., to take on the Lopers of the University of Nebraska at Kearney. The Lopers are currently in 13th place in the RMAC, with a 3-7 conference record and 3-12 in overall play. The game at the Health and Sports Center is scheduled for a 6 pm tip-off time, with the Cowboys taking to the court shortly after the completion of the women's game. If you can't make it up to Kearney, Neb. to watch your Cowgirls in action, you can click
HERE to watch the game LIVE on the America One network.
GO COWGIRLS!!!
