Merle Wiehl connected for 28 points and the 21st-ranked Western Nebraska Community College women's basketball team rolled to 95-43 win over Sheridan College in the quarterfinals of the Region IX tournament at Cougar Palace Thursday evening.
WNCC, who moved to 27-3, will face Eastern Wyoming College in the semifinals Friday night at 7 p.m. The Lancers escaped with a thrilling 86-85 win over McCook Community College.
The other semifinal will pit Northeastern Junior College and Casper College together at 5 p.m. NJC earned a 72-61 win over Laramie County Community College while Casper had no trouble in earning a 75-49 win over Otero Junior College.
WNCC head coach Chad Gibney thought this win was one of the team's most complete wins.
"It certainly was a good one tonight. I thought we played a complete game," he said. "I can't say enough about the girls. They were really good tonight and hopefully we can continue that going forward."
WNCC led from start to finish in the contest and jumped on the Generals by making three straight 3-pointers, two from Taylor Joplin and one from Wiehl for an 11-0 lead. WNCC led 25-9 after one quarter.
"I thought we jumped on them early," Gibney said. "We did a great job of sharing the basketball. Everything looks better when the ball goes through the basket. Sixteen made threes is always a recipe for a win. But mix that with holding them to 26 percent shooting. We were really good in about every aspect."
WNCC led 48-22 at halftime and really never looked back. In fact, the Cougars' defense played just as strong in the second half, holding the Generals to 21 points. WNCC scored 47 in the final 20 minutes.
WNCC shot 48 percent from the field and buried 16 3-pointers. The Cougars hit 10 treys in the first half, half from Wiehl. WNCC also dished off 23 assists, led by seven from Tishara Morehouse and four each from R'Manie Pulling and Joplin.
Sheridan shot just 26 percent from the field and made just 2 of 21 treys.
WNCC had four in double figures. Wiehl led all scorers with 28 points with six 3-pointers on 10 of 13 shooting. Joplin and Morehouse each had 15 points. Both players also buried three treys. Allysah Boothe tallied 14 points with two treys.
Eva Langton and Yuliyana Valcheva each had seven points. Valcheva led the team with nine boards, while Langton led with five steals.
Sheridan was paced by Lani Taliauli with 15 points.
WNCC will battle EWC for a spot in the semifinals on Friday. Gibney said it will be a good game.
"They have really guard play and they play with a lot of confidence and they play free," he said. "We will have to play a good game. At this time of the year you can't afford to have an off night.
Sheridan 9 13 13 8 -- 43
WNCC (27-3) 25 23 23 24 -- 95
SHERIDAN
Darcy Walker 2, Aloma Solvi 9, Noora Parttimaa 3, Tala Tuisavura 2, Cynthia Green 6, Kassie Hoyer 4, Misini Fifita 2, Lani Taliauli 15.
WNCC
Tishara Morehouse 15, Merle Wiehl 28, Allysah Boothe 14, Anyssia Gibbs 5, R'Manie Pulling 4, Eva Langton 7, Yuliyana Valcheva 7, Taylor Joplin 15.
NJC 72, LCCC 61
Northeastern Junior College started strong and held on to earn a 72-61 win over Laramie County Community College to move into the semifinals. NJC will battle Casper College at 5 p.m. Friday night.
The Plainswomen closed out the first quarter on a 10-0 run to lead 20-6 after one period.
The second quarter became interesting as the Golden Eagles use a 12-0 run to close within five, 23-18 and trailed NJC 34-27 at the break.
LCCC was within 44-38 until the Plainswomen used a 7-0 run to lead 51-38. NJC led 57-49 after three periods.
LCCC cut the lead to 59-53 in the fourth on a Haylie Anderson bucket. NJC responded with a 9-0 run to lead 68-53. Aleksandra Ratnikava had back-to-back buckets in the stretch. NJC never looked back in winning 72-61.
NJC shot 50 percent for the game, including 57 percent in the second half. The Plainswomen buried nine treys, including four from Tashika Burrell and two from Ratnikava.
The Plainswomen had three in double figures. Burrell led all scorers with 19 points, while Asia Turner had a double-double with 12 points and 16 rebounds. Ratnikava finished with 16 points.
LCCC was led by Gabrielle O'Connor with 24 points while Ja'Kia Wels had 13 points. Wells also pulled down nine rebounds.
LCCC 6 21 19 15 – 61
NJC 20 14 24 14 – 72
LCCC
Aeriel Stephenson 6, Haylie Anderson 9, Courtney Walker 2, Karli O'Brien 7, Ja'Kia Wells 13, Gabrielle O'Connor 24.
NJC
Alyzae Davis 9, Tashika Burrell 19, Kirsten Regennitter 8, Marta Rodriguez 3, Asia Turner 12, Taylor Knudson 5, Aleksandra Ratnikava 16.
EWC 86, McCook 85
The Eastern Wyoming College women's basketball team was facing a five-point deficit with under two minutes to play but received a big 3-pointer by McKenzie Becker to tie the game and prevailed 86-85 on a free throw by Abril Rexach Roure for the game-winner.
EWC now advances to face WNCC in the semifinals on Friday with the winner heading to the finals on Saturday.
The entire game was a back and forth affair from the opening tip. Both teams were trading scoring runs for the majority of the game. Roure hit two 3-pointers, and Paula Martinez Sanz added another to help the Lancers jump out to a 15-6 lead. The Indians closed out the first quarter on an 11-2 run, to tie the game at 17 heading into the second period on a 3-pointer by Sam Hinkle.
Hinkle's trey helped McCook start to heat up from long range as the Indians hit five threes in the second quarter, exploding for 31 points. The Lancers answered every run with one of their own. EWC led 44-43 in the final minute of the first half until McCook scored five straight points, three at the free-throw line, to head into the intermission up 48-44.
EWC wasted no time after the break, regaining the lead at 51-50 in the first two minutes when Roure scored an old-fashioned 3-point play. The Lancers would stretch the lead to 63-58 before McCook scored eight straight points, tying the game at 66. At the end of the third, McCook held a 69-66 advantage.
The fourth quarter stuck to the status quo, as both teams traded small scoring runs. McCook went on a 9-2 run to go up 85-80 with just over a minute to go. EWC buckled down on defense after a timeout, forcing a quick turnover that led to an Emily Buchanan layup to pull within one possession.
That was when Becker buried a 3-pointer, her second of the game to tie the game. EWC earned another stop on the defensive end and put the ball in Roure's capable hands. She drove the lane, drew the foul and hit the game-winner from the charity stripe.
Roure led all scorers with 23 points and added eight assists. She also had three 3-pointers. Sanz followed with 19 points and Buchanan poured in 16, hitting a perfect 9 of 9 from the free-throw line. Ines Salat Margarit finished with a game-high nine assists.
McCook was led by Anna Sanjuan with 20 points and four 3-pointers. Sanjuan also pulled down nine rebounds and had six assists. MaKenna Bodette finished the game with a double-double, collecting 16 points and pulling down 19 rebounds. Nikki Cross tallied 14 points while Hinkle had 12.
McCook 17 31 21 16 – 85
EWC 17 27 22 20 – 86
MCCOOK
Anna Sanjuan 20, Hailey Tiles 6, Makayla Jones 2, Sam Hinkle 12, Nikki Cross 14, Lena Goerke 7, Destiny Davis 8, MaKenna Bodette 16.
EWC
Abril Rexach 23, Ines Salat-Margarit 6, McKenzie Becker 6, Emily Buchanan 16, Kelliann Raff 6, Nicole Cutler 8, Barbara Trehub 2, Paula Marintez-Sanz 19.
Casper 75, Otero 49
The Casper women's basketball overcame a slow first quarter to outscore Otero Junior College 45-27 in the second half to register a 75-49 win in the quarterfinals of the Region IX tournament at Cougar Palace.
The Thunderbirds shot 54 percent for the game and pulled down 45 rebounds for the win and to advance to the semifinals to face Northeastern Junior College.
Casper trailed after the first quarter 14-9 but used an 11-0 run to open the second quarter to lead 20-14 over Otero. The Rattlers didn't score their first bucket in the second quarter until with 4:30 left. Casper led 30-22 at halftime.
The second half was all Casper in getting the win. The Thunderbirds shot 53 percent in the second half while holding the Rattlers to 27 percent shooting.
Maggie Justinak led all scorers with 25 points. Justinak buried two treys and pulled down five rebounds.
Lucie Hoskova finished with 22 points with four rebounds. Jaye Johnson led the Thunderbirds with eight rebounds.
Otero had two players in double figures. Grace O'Neil and Alessia Capley each had 13 points. O'Neil led the team with nine rebounds.
Otero 14 8 17 10 -- 49
Casper 9 21 29 16 -- 75
OTERO
Kaitlyn Roycroft 2, Hilda Garcia 6, Angelica Littlehawk 6, McClain Walker 9, Laura Prado-Morales 4, Charisse Fairley 2, Grace O'Neil 13, Alessia Capley 13.
CASPER
Raguel Ferner-Bernad 2, Nazti Bayazit 3, Bailey Johnson 4, Nerea Baena 7, Maggie Justinak 25, Ashley Tehau 3, Jaye Johnson 9, Lucie Hoskova 22.