Cougar notes: WNCC women bury 11 treys in win over EWC
The Western Nebraska Community College women’s basketball team buried 11 3-pointers and used a strong inside game in the second half to register a 76-62 win over Eastern Wyoming College Tuesday in Torrington, Wyoming.
November 13, 2024Updated: November 13, 2024
By News Channel Nebraska
By News Channel Nebraska
TORRINGTON, Wyo. – The Western Nebraska Community College women’s basketball team buried 11 3-pointers and used a strong inside game in the second half to register a 76-62 win over Eastern Wyoming College Tuesday in Torrington, Wyoming.
WNCC moves to 3-1 on the season and they will host the Fairfield Inn Cougar Classic this weekend when Dodge City Community College, Laramie County Community College and EWC come to The Palace. WNCC plays LCCC on Friday at 7:30 p.m. and then a rematch with EWC on Saturday at 3 p.m.
Tuesday’s win was one that impressed head coach Ryan Davis, especially how they played and fought in the second half with a strong inside game and some big 3-pointers.
“We kind of saw something in the second half especially with Nataly and seeing mismatches and we thought she couldn’t get guarded in the post. So, we kept throwing the ball in there the last six to seven minutes of the game,” Davis said. “We just had to make an adjustment there. We got rattled a little bit early on, especially in the second half and our perimeter game went away so we started throwing the ball inside and Nataly did a great job and the guards did a great job of getting her the ball.”
It was not an easy contest by any means as both teams were scrapping for balls and it was a physical contest. Davis said they needed a game like that after the Casper College game last Saturday.
“It was very physical and we needed that type of a game because it was physical against Casper and I didn’t think we responded great,” Davis said. “I told them in the second half they are not calling the little ticky-tack stuff so you guys have to face your contact and go up really strong. I think we did a better job of that in the second half. Those are the games that we need to get better.”
The one thing that stood out in the contest was the Cougars never trailed in the contest. The game was tied twice, the first time at 37-37 early in the third period and the second at 52-52 to start the fourth. That was the quarter that the Lancers outscored WNCC 21-18. All the other quarters, WNCC had the upper hand.
The first quarter saw the Cougars run out to a 14-5 lead on back-to-back 3-pointers by Zozefine Sipolina. WNCC led 16-7 on a Nataly Dunka steal and bucket. The Lancers came back and made it a 16-14 game, but Sipolina hit another triple at the end of the quarter for the 19-14 lead.
The second quarter was back and forth as WNCC had a 31-18 lead after Laura Montiel made an old-fashioned 3-point play. EWC battled back to make it 31-25. WNCC led at halftime 34-27.
The second half saw the Lancers tie the contest at 37-37 with 5:31 to play. The Cougars responded as Montiel hit a 3-pointer. It was a 1-point contest at 42-41 when the Cougars went on an 8-0 run that was capped by back-to-back treys from Montiel and Helena Kuck. WNCC led after three quarters 52-48.
EWC’s Tawny Rodriguez started the fourth with four points to tie the game. After that, the Cougars went on a 11-2 run that saw Lidia Hernandez bury a triple and Dunka take over in the paint as WNCC led 64-54. The contest was 69-62 late and WNCC closed out the game on a 7-0 run that saw Hernandez bury another triple.
WNCC had 11 3-pointers in the contest, led by Sipolina with five and two each from Hernandez and Montiel.
WNCC won the rebound battle 33-26, led by Sipolina and Adelina Urtane each with seven.
The Cougars had five in double figures, led by Dunka with 19 points followed by Sipolina with 17, Montiel with 14, Urtane with 12, and Hernandez with 11.
The Lancers had just three in double figures, led by Yaiza Paredes with 13.
WNCC 19 15 18 24 – 76
EWC 14 13 21 14 – 62
WNCC
Helena Kuck 3, Laura Montiel 14, Adelina Urtane 12, Zozefina Sipolina 17, Nataly Dunka 19, Lidia Hernandez 11.
EWC
Leamsi Acuna 4, Tawny Rodriguez 10, Nikolina Vukcevic 12, Aliya Tripp 2, Yaiza Paredes 13, Rhia Saggar 7, Lucy Devoy 3, Ariadna Martinez 6, Josephine Vourliotis 5.
WNCC men let one slip away as Lancers win OT thriller
TORRINGTON, Wyo. – The Western Nebraska Community College men’s basketball team let a win slip through their fingertips as the Eastern Wyoming College Lancers hit late free throws to register the 83-80 overtime win Tuesday in Torrington, Wyoming.
The Cougars will have little time to look back on the defeat as WNCC hosts Laramie County Community College Wednesday evening at 6:30 p.m.
WNCC will need to learn quick from the mistakes in the EWC as they get ready for some big contests in the next couple of weeks.
The Lancers, however, played aggressive and hit big shots. The first half was dominated by the Lancers. WNCC led just twice in the first half at 5-4 and 7-6. The Lancers responded as they held a 21-16 lead and then led by six at 24-18. WNCC cut the lead to 26-23, but EWC had two big shots. The first was a 3-pointer that they made as the shot clock buzzer was going off. The second was another buzzer-beater when Eli Igiranez hit a trey to beat the halftime buzzer. EWC led 32-23 at intermission.
EWC led 39-31 early in the second half only to watch WNCC outscore the Lancers 15-4 to grab a 46-43 lead behind a dunk by Mathiang Maker and a triple by Elijah Hollins. EWC came right back and took a 47-46 lead. The Cougars went up 55-49 on four points from Maker.
EWC jumped back in front 67-66. That was when WNCC went back in front at 68-67 on a bucket by Hollins with 35 seconds to play. WNCC force a turnover and Kellon Harris nailed two free throws with 9.7 seconds left and a 70-67 lead. EWC had one last chance at tying the game and Alain Nziza was fouled taking a 3-pointers with 1.5 seconds and made all three shots to force overtime.
In the 5-minute extra period, WNCC went up 80-74 with just over a minute to play on an Isaiah St. Preux drive and bucket. EWC buried a trey to make it 80-77 and then hit two field goals, the last one from Vukasin Spasojevic with 15.5 seconds to play for an 81-80 lead. A shot by the Cougars with 3.3 seconds was not good and Jumarion Weh was fouled with 3.3 seconds to play for the 83-80 final score.
Maker led the Cougars with 26 points followed by Harris with 19, and Hollins with 14 and Burney with nine.
WNCC 23 47 10 – 80
EWC 32 38 13 – 83
WNCC
Reece Randolph 4, Kellon Harris 19, Isaiah St. Preux 6, Elijah Hollins 14, Mathiang Maker 26, Elijah Burney 9, Witold Czerenkiewicz 2.
EWC
Jumarion Weh 5, Jouk Mayan 5, Jaironn Speights 3, LaThario Miller 16, Javier Gonzalez 15, Khayree Rashed 4, Bilal Cisse 3, Eli Igiranez 5, Vukasin Spasojevic 6, Alain Nziza 15, Russell Moorer 4.