The Western Nebraska Community College women's basketball team used a fast start in earning a 70-63 Region IX South Conference win against Trinidad State Junior College Saturday afternoon at Cougar Palace.
The win was the Cougars 11th of the season but more importantly puts the Cougars at 2-0 in the South division.
Saturday's win was highlighted by a balanced scoring attack, led by Sladjana Rakovic with 16 points followed by 14 from Jaleesa Avery and 13 from Bree Paulson.
Paulson, who buried three 3-pointers on the day, said this was a good win for them, especially of how they started.
"I thought starting quick was essential for the W because we needed to show who was in control of this game especially at our house," Paulson said. "It definitely was a team win and that is what we look forward to in the future because not one player can do it all; it has to be five against five and not one vs. five."
A big key in the win was how the Cougars led from start to finish. Paulson said that was because they were persistent.
"Coach before the game gave us a quote about being persistent and that is pretty much what we did the entire game," the 5-foot-11 sophomore from Broomfield, Colorado, said. "We kept being persistent whether if it was on defense, offense, rebounding or steals. Staying persistent helped us get the lead and keep the lead the whole game."
WNCC had one of its best first quarters on both ends of the court, jumping out to a 14-6 lead on a Paulson driving bucket. The Cougars pushed the lead to 22-10 on an Anastacia Johnson 3-pointer and closed out the first 10 minutes on back-to-back buckets by Zeynep Canbaz and Melisa Kadic for a 30-11 lead.
WNCC started the second quarter jumping to a 37-17 lead with 5:41 to play in the opening half on a Kadic bucket off an assist from Canbaz. That bucket, however, was the Cougars last bucket before half as the Trojans ran off 14 straight points to cut the halftime deficit to 37-31.
WNCC came back and outscored Trinidad 18-15 in the third for a 55-46 lead. The fourth quarter saw Trinidad come back to slice the deficit to 65-62 with two minutes to play. WNCC came right back on a Paulson trey to push the lead to 68-62 and held on for the win.
Both teams shot 38 percent for the game and both teams hit nailed six treys. Trinidad won the rebound battle 46-38, but WNCC registered 19 steals on defense to six for Trinidad. Paulson and Canbaz each had five steals. Canbaz also dished out nine assists.
WNCC's balanced scoring saw three players nearly hit double figures to join Paulson, Avery, and Rakovic. Canbaz had nine, followed by seven each from Kadic and Johnson.
WNCC, 11-3, will be off for a month for the holiday break when they return home Jan. 13 to face Northeastern Junior College.
"It feels really good to be 11-3," Paulson said. "We have been working hard and we will continue to work hard. Coach said we are going to stay persistent. Even on break, on our own time, we are going to continue keep running, shooting, and we will be looking forward to be coming back and starting again."
Trinidad 11 20 15 17 – 63
WNCC (11-3) 28 9 18 15 – 70
TRINIDAD
Nyece Smith 3, Mandle Perea 8, Alaynna Latimore 8, Tammarrah Gothard 7, Kaila Gabriel 9, Clarissa Chavez 3, Linsi Calvo 11, Kippi Webb 2, Jenny Hugins 5, Annette Warner 7.
WNCC
Melisa Kadic 7, Sladjana Rakovic 16, Jaleesa Avery 14, Olivia Wiberg 2, Zeynep Canbaz 9, Bree Paulson 13, Anastacia Johnson 7, Giovanna Silva 2.