LAMAR, Colo. – The 25th-ranked Western Nebraska Community College women's basketball team used a strong first quarter and then held on to capture a 62-58 win over Lamar Community College Friday evening in Lamar, Colorado, to win the South Sub-region and the host for the Region IX tournament in March
The win moved the Cougars to 11-1 in the South sub-region and 22-4 overall. The win was the Cougars 10th straight.
The win was definitely a gut-check effort for a Cougar team that entered banged up with three regular starters that didn't start. Still, the team found the way to win the game and the South sub-region.
"Honestly, today we didn't play really well but we found a way to come together," freshman Anastacia Johnson said. "We made sure everyone got in the game and do what they were supposed to do."
When the final seconds ticked off the clock, the Cougars earned the hard-fought win and also realized that they achieved one of their goals of winning the sub-region.
"It is an amazing feeling. Words really can't describe how it feels," Johnson said. "But it is a good feeling and we deserve this. We worked hard for this all season long and it is really big for us."
The Cougars earned the gut-check win with clutch plays in the fourth quarter. Johnson said they went into the fourth knowing what they needed to do.
"We were focusing on executing our plays," she said. "We were making sure that we got someone the ball and also followed our shot."
WNCC started the game leading 22-8 after the first quarter as Bree Paulson and Olivia Wiberg each buried a 3-pointer.
The second quarter became a little rough. WNCC led 28-15 before Lamar came storming back to trail 28-24 and 31-29 at halftime.
Lamar came back in the second half and outscored WNCC 29-21. Lamar took their second lead of the game at 41-40 only to see WNCC came back to lead 44-41. WNCC led 44-43 after three periods.
The Cougars started the fourth on an 8-0 run behind a bucket each from Bree Paulson, Jaleesa Avery, Melisa Kadic and Sladjana Rakovic for a 52-43 lead. WNCC led 60-53 with under a minute to play and sealed the win with Rakovic converting a free throw with four seconds to play.
WNCC was led by Avery and Rakovic led the Cougars with 13 points each, while Canbaz chipped in nine.
WNCC will now be in action Saturday when they travel to face Northeastern Junior College. Johnson said they need to stay strong to avoid the upset.
"We have to make sure we execute our plays," she said. "The last time we played NJC we gave up a lot of easy baskets. Tomorrow we have to make sure that doesn't happen. We have to take care of the ball, run our plays, and pretty much play as a family."
WNCC (22-4) 22 9 13 18 – 62
Lamar 8 21 14 15 – 58
WNCC
Melisa Kadic 4, Jaleesa Avery 13, Olivia Wiberg 5, Kellie Gaston 3, Sladjana Rakovic 13, Sophie Agorakis 3, Zeynep Canbaz 9, Bree Paulson 7, Anastacia Johnson 5.