The Western Nebraska Community College women’s basketball team wrapped up the Region IX Crossover tourney with a heartbreaking 61-59 loss to No. 23 Casper College at Cougar Palace Saturday afternoon.

                The other games in the tourney at Cougar Palace on Saturday saw Laramie County Community College top Northeastern Junior College 68-59 and the Eastern Wyoming College Lancers put six in doubled figures to hold of gutsy performance from the Nebraska All-stars that received a 17-point performance from former Cougar Kalli Feddersen for the 74-62 win.

                For the Cougar women, it was their third straight loss and all three losses were by two or three points each.

                Saturday, the Cougars were playing well and in prime condition to upset the ranked T-Birds.

                WNCC played well in the first quarter and held a 6-2 early lead after back-to-back Ola Duda buckets. WNCC led 16-11 late in the first quarter on a Jayla Owen buck, but Casper score the final three points to close the gap to 16-14 in favor of WNCC after the opening 10 minutes.

                The second quarter saw Casper tie the game at 19-19. WNCC would then go on a 10-0 run to lead 29-19 with 2:35 to play. Bre Flower made it 25-19 with 6:03 to play. During that stretch, the Cougar defense held Casper scoreless for nearly five minutes. Fowler closed out the run by hitting a trey to make it 29-19.

                Casper came back as they held WNCC scoreless for the final 2:35 as they closed to within four points, 29-25, heading into the locker room.

                The third quarter belonged to the T-Birds. WNCC held a 35-31 lead after a Rashaan Smith bucket. Casper then went on a 10-0 run over the next two minutes to hod a 41-35 lead. Owen stopped the run when she hit a 3-pointer with 2:05 to play. Casper led after three 45-40.

                WNCC led off the fourth quarter as Joseph nailed two 3-pointers for a 46-45 lead. The Cougars stayed on top of the T-Birds as they had a 54-51 lead on a Shiho Isono bucket and then led 56-53 with 2:10 to play after Fowler made a driving, underhanded lay-up for a 56-53 lead.

                Casper continued playing strong defense for the next 90 seconds as they went on an 8-0 run, taking a 57-56 lead with 29.9 seconds to play. With 23.4 seconds to play, Casper’s Sandra Fray-Garcia nailed two free throws. WNCC then missed a 3-pointer with 6.1 seconds left. Casper’s Joslin Igo was fouled with 3.8 seconds and hit both charity tosses. Owen then hit a near-half-court shot at the buzzer for the final 61-59 score.

                WNCC had three players in double figures. Joseph led the way with 13 points while Owen and Fowler each had 12 points.

                Casper won the rebound battle 54-37. Joseph had nine boards while Isono had seven.

                The Lancers had a difficult time against the Nebraska All-stars that pushed the Lancers to the limit. EWC held a slim 19-18 lead after the first quarter and went into the locker room at halftime with a 35-31 lead.

                The All-stars outscored EWC 18-17 in the third quarter to make it 52-49. The fourth quarter was title with a minute to play, EWC held a slim 66-62 lead, but hit clutch free throws down the stretch for the 12-point win.

                The Lancers were led in scoring by Andrea Gutierrez Ciordia with 15 points followed by Darija Erakovic with 13, Neylan Vila Delicado with 12, Avery West and Amanda Sene da Cruz each with 11, and Tamar Kopilevich with 10.

                The Nebraska All-stars, made up of former WNCC and EWC players along with former high school players from the area, saw Feddersen score 17 followed by seven from Jennifer Figuerou and six from Cloey Fries.

                WNCC and EWC will hit the courts for a contest on Monday in Torrington, Wyoming, for a women’s and men’s doubleheader. The women’s contest starts at 5:30 p.m. followed by the men’s contest.

 

Game 1
NJC        21 15 4 19 – 59
LCCC      19 18 9 22 – 68
NJC
Neveah Speda 3, Seneya Martinez 13, Dalys McGuinnis 4, Kelsey Koza 4, Kenzie Kraich 4, Jailyn Potts 5, Genesis Sweetwine 11, Amya Winfrey 1, Bailee Hart 8, Alexandra Westerdijk 6.
LCCC
Lylah Spring 10, Shannon Niles 7, Jamy de Kock l7, Michala Bork 12, Halle Hester 14, Monique Marcetic-Vaotangi 15, Couirtney Rowley 3.

 

Game 2

NE All-stars         18 13 18 13 – 62
EWC                       19 16 17 22 – 74

NEBRASKA ALL-STARS
Kalli Feddersen 17, Jennifer Figuerou 7, Emily Dent 5, Jada Ybarra 2, Kelsey Vaughn 2, Paige Lopez 4, Kylee Sterkel 5, Cloey Fries 6, Syd Winkler 4, Ashley Fenning 4, Alicia Hawkins 2, Celeste Cardona 4.

EWC
Neylan Vila Delicado 12, Monika Brcina 2, Darija Erakovic 13, Avery West 11, Amanda Sena da Cruz 11, Andrea Gutierrez Ciordia 15, Tamar Koplievich 10.

 

Game 3
Casper                  14 11 20 16 – 61
WNCC                   16 13 11 19 – 59
CASPER
Celina Arnlund 4, Logann Alver 11, Flora Goed 14, Sandra Frau-Garcia 14, Julia Palomo 6, Ana Csenyi 5, Joslin Igo 7.

WNCC

Shiho Isono 8, Jayla Owen 12, Bre Fowler 12, Mackenzie Joseph 13, Ola Duda 8, Faith Walker, Rashaan Smith 4.

WNCC men fall to Western Wyoming

                CASPER, Wyo. – The Western Nebraska Community College men’s basketball team let a win slip their fingertips as Western Wyoming outscored the Cougars 52-28 in the second half to come back for the 85-72 win Saturday afternoon in Casper, Wyoming.

                The Cougars played well in the first half as they had an 18-point lead with 7:12 to play in the half. That 18-point lead diminished to just 11 at halftime as the Cougars led 44-33.

                The second half was the difference as the Cougars shot 43 percent in the second half after going 52 percent in the first half. The Cougars made four treys in the first 20 minutes and was only 2-of-10 in the second half. Western Wyoming buried four treys in the first half but connected on seven in the second half to get the win.

                WNCC had four players in double figures. Carl Thorpe led the way with 20 points along with nine rebounds. Danial Bula finished with 12 points with three treys, while CJ Johnson had 11 points and Zach O’Callaghan had 10 points.

                WNCC will look to get back on the winning path on Monday when the Cougars travel to Torrington, Wyoming, to face Eastern Wyoming College in a women’s and men’s doubleheader.

 

WNCC                   33 52 – 85
W. Wyo.               44 28 – 72
WNCC
CJ Johnson 11, Biko Johnson 9, Carl Thorpe 20, Daniel Bula 12, Stephen Ovia 2, Maurice Walker 8, Zach O’Callaghan 10.