LAMAR, Colo. – The Western Nebraska Community College women’s basketball team got back on the winning track as they gutted out a road win over Lamar Community College Tuesday evening in registering the 63-48 South Sub-region win.

                The win moves the Cougars to 14-8 on the season and more importantly to 3-1 in the conference. WNCC is now tied with Otero for first place after the Rattlers defeated Trinidad State 92-65. Trinidad falls to 3-2 in sub-region play.

                Ola Duda had a big night as the freshman from Poland led the way with 18 points. Duda said they played alright, especially scoring within the paint.

                “We took care of the ball. We limited turnovers and we ran well in transition,” she said. “(The key to the win) was our inside presence.”

                WNCC controlled the contest for the majority of the game. The Cougars jumped to a 10-6 lead before Lamar cut the deficit to three points at 15-12. WNCC would go on to lead after one period 19-13.

                The second quarter was where the Cougars offense and defense shined. Offensively, WNCC put up 24 points with Duda, Rashaan Smith, and Faith Walker doing most of the damage from inside. Duda scored eight points in the second period as WNCC built a 28-16 lead and led 43-20 at halftime.

                The third quarter belonged to Lamar as they racked up 19 points while WNCC had a slow third period, scoring just seven points, but leading 50-39 after three periods on a Walker bucket.

                The fourth quarter saw WNCC stay in control as they scored the first seven points of the fourth quarter on back-to-back buckets by Bre Fowler with one being a 3-pointer for a 57-39. WNCC never looked back after that to get the win.

                WNCC had three players in double figures. After Duda’s 18, Fowler had 12 points while Smith finished with 10.

                WNCC, 14-8, will next be in action Monday, February 6 when they travel to Cheyenne, Wyoming to face Laramie County Community College at Story Gymnasium for a men’s and women’s doubleheader.

                Duda said they are going to heal up during the weekend off as they have three big games next week.

                “We are going to spend time recovering and working on rebounding,” Duda said.

 

WNCC (14-8)     19 24 7 13 – 63
Lamar (6-14)      13 7 19 9 – 48

WNCC
Shiho Isono 6, Yara Garcia 5, Bre Fowler 12, Mackenzie Joseph 6, Ola Duda 18, Faith Walker 4, Rashaan Smith 10.

WNCC men fall to Lamar

                LAMAR, Colo. – The Western Nebraska Community College men’s basketball team were outscored 8-0 in the final 85 seconds of their Region IX South Sub-region contest with Lamar Community College Tuesday on the road as the Lopes registered the 78-69 win.

                The loss drops the Cougars to 11-9 on the season and 2-2 in conference play. Lamar goes to 6-12 on the season and are also 2-2 in the conference along with Northeastern Junior College. NJC defeated North Platte on Tuesday 88-81.

                WNCC will look to get back on the winning track on Thursday when they host North Platte at Cougar Palace in a key sub-region contest. Tip-off is slated for 6 p.m.

                WNCC and Lamar were playing back and forth with each other all game. WNCC held an early 26-23 lead on a Biko Johnson bucket. That changed as Lamar went on a 10-0 run to lead 33-26 and the Lopes led 37-32 at halftime.

                The second half saw WNCC tied the game at 40-40 on a Dimitrije Nikolic bucket and take the lead at 42-40. Lamar then went on a 11-0 run to push the lead to 51-42. WNCC came storming back as they retook the lead at 52-51 on two Biko Johnson free throws with 12:29 to play.

                WNCC led 59-56 on two Carl Thorpe charity tosses. Lamar went on another run, this time a 7-0 run to lead 63-59. WNCC cut the deficit to a single point at 65-64 on a Daniel Bula 3-pointer. WNCC was in striking distance with 1:25 to play as Thorpe made 5-of-6 free throws to make it 70-69. That was all the scoring WNCC would get as Lamar scored the final eight points for the win.

                WNCC was led by Thorpe with 23 points, including going 10-of-12 from the free throw line. Biko Johnson also had 11 points while Bula had 10 points and CJ Johnson tallied eight.

 

WNCC (11-9)     32 37 – 69

Lamar (6-14)      37-41 – 78

WNCC

Dimitrije Nikolic 5, Carl Thorpe 23, Daniel Bula 10, Zach O’Callaghan 8, CJ Johnson 8, Biko Johnson 11, Stephen Ovia 2, Maurice Walker 2.