Chadron State falls to Northern State, 63-53

CHADRON – Jodi Reinschmidt scored a game-high 20 points and Northern State led wire-to-wire en route to its 63-53 non-conference victory over Chadron State Monday evening in Chadron.

The Wolves led by as many as 16 points in the second half, but Chadron State went on a late 10-0 scoring run to cut the deficit to 57-51 with two minutes to play.

However, the Eagles’ scoring burst ended when Reinschmidt banked in a lay-up after an offensive rebound on the Wolves’ next possession and Northern fended CSC off the rest of the game to improve to 3-1 on the season.

Second-chance points proved to be pivotal for the taller Northern State squad. Three of its five starters are at least 6-foot and the Wolves hauled in 14 offensive rebounds that resulted in 15 points. For the game, Northern State had 47 total rebounds, while Chadron State had 33.

“Their size bothered us, but the only time it really affected us was when we didn’t execute and they were able to catch us out of position,” CSC head coach Tim Connealy said. “I was encouraged with how we played in the second half and we began to execute better as the game went along. I know we’ll learn from this.”

The Eagles, now 0-2, received a boost prior to tip-off when returning All-American Kaitlin Petri was given clearance to play. She missed a week and a half with a lower leg injury, but the senior from Kearney showed no ill-effects by scoring a team-high 19 points and grabbing six boards in 30 minutes of action.

Kelsey Scott scored 11 points to join Petri in double figures and Kattie Ranta added seven and Kada Williams finished with six more.

Both teams struggled to shoot from the field. Chadron State shot 28.8 percent (15 for 52), while Northern State connected on 39.6 percent (21-53) of its shots.

The Eagles did shoot well from the foul line, though, hitting 18 of 21.

Chadron State will host Montana State University-Billings Monday, Nov. 29 at 6 p.m.