The Western Nebraska Community College women's basketball team has one thing on their mind entering the Region IX women's tournament in Casper, Wyoming, this week and that is to bring home a Region IX title.

                That is the goal of every team, but for the Cougars, it is a goal to get back to the national tournament.

                While that is the main goal for the team, there is a second goal and that that is the first on the agenda and that is to win their quarterfinal game against Western Wyoming Community College, a team that has beaten the Cougars four straight games.

                WNCC will open regional tourney action Thursday at 12:30 p.m. against the Mustangs. It is a game the team is looking forward to.

                "We have played them lots of times and I think we are ready," redshirt sophomore Gal-La Font said. "We need to stick to our way of playing and not let them take us out of the game."

                That is the key for the Cougar women to do well, play their game. Font said they have to leave everything out on the court over the three days of the tourney.

                "Giving our everything," Font said is the key to winning. "We need putting in the effort and playing defense. We need to play our basketball."

                Mackenzie Joseph, a true sophomore, said the key is staying together.

                "Playing as a team with everyone on the same page," Joseph said." We would have to play three games in three days so making sure we get enough rest and play hard each day."

                The first round of the regional tournament was actually played on Friday, March 8 with four games to get to the tournament.

                One of those was WNCC when they hosted Trinidad State and it was one of the best games from start to finish for the Cougar women as they beat Trinidad 100-51 behind a team effort.

                Other first-round games included McCook earning a 48-43 win over Lamar Community College, Eastern Wyoming College topping Laramie County 72-66, and Gillette College taking out Northwest College 72-68.

                The winners from March 8 and the top two teams from the North and South, who earned a bye into the quarterfinals, will meet up in Casper, March 14-16.

                Quarterfinal action gets underway Thursday when WNCC faces Western Wyoming at 12:30 p.m. and Gillette taking on South top seed Northeastern Junior College at 2:30 p.m.

                Those two winners will meet in the semifinals on Friday at 5 p.m.

                The other quarterfinals will have Eastern Wyoming facing Otero at 5 p.m. and McCook taking on North top seed Casper at 7 p.m.

                Those winners will battle in the semifinals on Friday at 7 p.m.

                The two semifinal winners will meet for the Region IX championship on Saturday at 4 p.m. with the winner advancing to the NJCAA national tournament March 26-April 1 at the Ford Wyoming Center in Casper, Wyoming.

                If WNCC wants to keep winning, it is imperative that they play like they did against Trinidad where they led from start to finish, leading 25-5 after the first quarter and 55-22 at halftime.

                It was a game where all the players scored and it was a balanced scoring with four in double figures and another five with seven to nine points.

                That game saw Ebere Egbirika and Faith Walker led the way with 16 points followed by Amiyah Donaldson with 14 and Laura Montiel with 10.

                So, what about Western Wyoming? The Mustangs defeated the Cougars twice this season including 73-56 on November 10 at Rock Springs, Wyoming, and then came back outscoring the Cougars 43-27 in the second half to top WNCC 75-67 on January 10 at Cougar Palace.

                WNCC enters the tournament on a 5-game winning streak and each of those five wins a different player led the team in scoring. In the 72-61 win over McCook, Donaldson led with 21 points.

                In the 68-63 win over North Platte it was Font that led the team with 15 points, while the win over Lamar (77-43) it was Joseph with a 17 point effort. In back-to-back wins over Trinidad, Walker had 19 points in the regular season meeting, while Egbirika had 16 in the playoff game.

                The team says they are playing well and are locked into what they need to do.

                "We are playing decent right now," Joseph said. "Defensively, we are getting better but we need to stay on it."

                Font said the team is getting back to where they need to be when they strung together 10 straight wins in November and December, including topping Casper College 75-69 and then beating nationally-ranked College of Southern Idaho 82-77. 
                "We are doing good and getting back to our identity. Practices are going well," Font said. "We are very locked in and excited to win."