CHADRON, Neb. – The MSU Denver women's basketball team, with five players unavailable due to injury, didn't have quite enough Saturday to pull off a road victory at Chadron State and fell 77-70.
 
"We're just decimated from a depth standpoint," MSU Denver coach Tanya Haave said.
 
Despite leading 17-8 early, the Roadrunners were down nine points at halftime and trailed by 11 points, 42-31, with 9:46 left in the third period.
 
"The first half really killed us," Haave said. "At 17-8 ,they picked it up and we didn't."
 
But got they got themselves back in the game and took the lead at 49-48 on a Mikylah Espinosa layup with 3:30 left in the quarter to cap a quick 18-7 run.
 
But Chadron State re-established its led at 56-49 by scoring the final eight points of the third, and the Eagles twice led by nine early in the fourth.
 
Once again the Roadrunners rallied to keep in contact, and they tied the game 68-68 on Brianna Bailey's 3-pointer with 2:51 to go. But Chadron State answered with a 3 and stretched the lead to 73-68 with 1:23 to go.
 
Espinosa's basket made the deficit 73-70 with 1:15 to play, but Chadron State held off MSU Denver down the stretch.
 
Espinosa, the true freshman, scored a career-best 24 points while adding six rebounds, two assists and two steals.
 
"She's going to be able to defend," Haave said. "And we've gotten her settled down offensively. I'm very pleased with her production."
 
Scoring leader Kendra Parra, limited to 25 minutes due to foul trouble, had 13 points, while Brianna Sealy had 12 points and six rebounds. Jaiden Galloway had nine points and assists.
 
MSU Denver dropped to 4-8 overall and 2-4 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference.
 
"Chadron is a tough place to play, and we weren't ready to see what we were going to see," Haave said. "It's a disappointing loss, but we're going to bounce back, get a little tougher and keep growing."