By: Con Marshall
CSC Sports Information
CHADRON, Neb. – While playing her 100th college game last Saturday, Chadron State senior Ashayla Powers made program history to become Eagle women's basketball's all-time rebounding leader.
Powers grabbed a team-high seven rebounds against Regis on Saturday, giving her 615 for her career and slipping her past two all-time greats from Sheridan County.
Shauna Smith of Gordon, Nebraska and Lorna Dahlgren of Hay Springs, Nebraska each pulled down 614 rebounds to share top place on the CSC chart while they were starring for the Eagles in the early 1990s. Smith concluded her career in 1994 and Dahlgren graduated the following year. Now fourth on the Eagles' career rebounding list is Tanya Weber, a native of Douglas, Wyoming who had 605 when she graduated in 1998.
Powers, a fifth-year senior from Longmont, Colorado, has grabbed 187 offensive rebounds and 428 defensive rebounds across her career to reach the magic number of 615. She has averaged six or more rebounds per contest in each of the past four seasons. Powers was a First Team All-RMAC choice in 2022-23 and was a second-team selection last year.
Through 12 games this season, Powers has scored 148 points and grabbed 81 rebounds, an average of 12.3 points and 6.8 rebounds per game. During her career, Powers has averaged 13.4 points and 6.2 rebounds across her 100 games played. Powers has shot 49.7 percent (492-990) from the field and 73.5 percent (331-450) from the free throw line since joining the Eagles in the fall of 2020.
Now that Powers has the program rebounding crown, she will now try to move up the Eagles' scoring lists. Powers has moved into fifth place on the CSC women's scoring chart with 1,344 career points.
Those above her are Tricia Lukawski with 1,869, Dahlgren with 1,527, Mary Perrien with 1,493 and Gwen Reed with 1,492. Smith, who tallied 1,215 points during her career, was among those who Powers moved past on the scoring chart this season.
Powers and the CSC women's basketball team are on the road this upcoming weekend, facing Adams State on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. and New Mexico Highlands on Saturday at 1 p.m. The Eagles will return home to face Westminster on Thursday, January 23 at 5 p.m. in the Chicoine Center, where Powers will be recognized.