DENVER, Colo. – The Regis University women's basketball team took on the Chadron State College Eagles on Saturday and extended their win streak to nine with the 92-56 win.
The Rangers (16-3 overall, 11-2 RMAC) were down by two after the first quarter, but a crucial defensive change helped them hold the Eagles (5-12 overall, 3-10 RMAC) to only 56 points at the final buzzer.
"We had a rough first quarter but credit to Chadron State for pushing us and scoring 20 on us in the first quarter. They really challenged us in that," said Regis women's basketball head coach, Molly Marrin. "We had to make adjustments defensively and it felt like we took better care of the basketball in the second and rebounded the ball better. Those were our two keys and what helped us start the run."
How It Happened: The Rangers opened the game with a three-point shot from graduate student guard Josey Ryan to which the Eagles answered with one of their own. The back-and-forth scoring continued as the Rangers played two-three zone defense through the first and found themselves down by two.
At the start of the second, Regis flipped its defensive plan and switched to man-to-man defense and saw their decision pay off as the Eagles only scored 12 points in the second.
In addition to their ability to keep CSC from scoring, the Rangers dominated at the glass, grabbing a total of 44 rebounds, 25 of which came from the second half.
"I think our press can energize us but if we're giving up too many threes then it's not serving the purpose that we want it to so that's why we went back to man-to-man. We gave it a try but Chadron hit threes and broke it well so that's what forced us to make that change," said Marrin.
That change continued to pay off as the Rangers went on a 16-4 run to go up by 10, 34-24, at the 4:57 mark in the second. Nine of those 16 points came from junior guard Athena Saragoza, who knocked down three consecutive shots from downtown.
The third-year finished with her fourth 20-point game in a row, scoring 22 and shooting 50% (6-for-12) from three and 50% (8-for-16) from the floor.
"She's just so consistent. She's the same person every day and stays confident whether she makes shots or misses shots," Marrin said. "She stayed confident after she missed a few and then made four in a row after that. It's a credit to her putting extra time in the gym. I mean, she's in here literally every day, probably for an hour or more just doing extra work."
Alongside Saragoza's performance was Regis' post group, Sam Deem, Madison Diercks, Fiona Snashall, Morgan L. Smith, and Sydney Speights. Each finished with at least four rebounds, and scored an average of 6.5 points per player.
Of Regis' 44 total rebounds, the group was responsible for 26.
"Morgan, Sam, Fi, and Mads, all of them, they're just consistent as a whole. They want to be the best post group in the conference, we don't talk about who's the best post player or anything like that. We talk about what is the identity of our post group and I think we do have the best post group in the conference," Marrin said." They're very unselfish with each other, they pass to each other, and they share the load on boards and defending different players. They're just a really unified position group."
True to the Rangers' identity, the bench played a big role in Saturday's success. Players from the bench combined for a total of 37 points.
"I just think it was awesome to see the energy from the group that was out there at the end," said Marrin. "They were passing to each other, making defensive plays and really sharing the ball with each other. It was just great to see them get those minutes."
Saragoza finished with 22 points, while three other Rangers also finished in double-digit points, Josey Ryan (12), Erin Fry (10), and Madison Diercks (10).
Game Notes:
- Every single player on Regis' team played at least four minutes, in which every single player grabbed at least one rebound
- Olivia Pitrof led all Rangers in blocks with two
- Josey Ryan led in assists with five
Up Next: The Rangers will travel to Pueblo, Colo. to take on the Colorado State University Pueblo ThunderWolves on Friday. Tip off is set for 5:30 PM.
"Alisha Little is a really tough player, offensively and defensively. So again, it'll be a shared responsibility within our post group guarding her as well as making sure our guards are helping there too. It'll be a challenge but we're excited for it, said Marrin.
