The 24th-ranked Western Nebraska Community College women's basketball team made clutch free throws down the stretch to earn a come-from-behind 68-65 win over Gillette College in both teams' regular season finale.
The win was the Cougars 25th on the season and pushes their win streak to 13 heading into the Region IX tournament which WNCC will host March 9-11.
The game came down to free throw shooting by both squads. The two squads combined for 53 fouls and 68 free throw attempts. WNCC finished the game going 30 of 47 from the charity stripe, while Gillette was 9 of 21.
Zeynep Canbaz, one of the three sophomores that was honored before the game, hit four big free throws in the final 30 seconds to help the Cougars to the win.
Canbaz said that this win shows the heart of the team even when they are not playing well.
"I think we started off slowly and were kind of careless with the ball," she said. "Our hearts really showed through in the end."
More importantly, the tenacity the team showed to come back from a 14-point deficit in the third-quarter was the most important thing that the team can take from the win.
"The win is amazing and I think it truly shows the character of our team," she said. "We are resilient and I thought we handled adversity extremely well."
WNCC handled adversity on a night where field goals were hard to come from for the 24th-ranked team. The Cougars shot 26 percent in the first half before shooting 41 percent in the second half.
Gillette shot 46 percent in the first half before fizzling a little in the second at 38 percent. Gillette buried eight 3-pointers on the night, while the Cougars were just 4 of 16 from beyond the arc.
WNCC's shooting woes started in the second. The Cougars held a 27-22 lead with over three minutes to play in the second quarter and that was when they went ice cold. Gillette scored the final 10 points of the quarter to take a 32-27 lead at halftime.
Shooting was not a strong point in the early stages of the third quarter either for the Cougars. Gillette build a 14-point lead at 48-34 before WNCC finally started to find some rhythm.
It all started with back to back buckets by Jaleesa Avery and then a bucket by Canbaz to get within single digits, at 49-40. Gillette ended the third quarter leading the Cougars 51-42.
The fourth quarter was when WNCC picked it up when they needed to, outscoring the Pronghorns 26-14. The Cougars got to within two on shots from Bree Paulson who nailed a 3-pointer from the corner followed by Avery with a bucket and Paulson nailing two technical free throws.
WNCC finally tied the game at 55-55 on two Avery free throws and took their first lead with 1:29 to play on two more Avery free throws, 63-62. WNCC pushed the lead to three points when Canbaz nailed two charity tosses with 12.1 seconds to play.
Gillette's Shy'Tyra Powell nailed a 3-pointer with 1.1 seconds to bring the Pronghorns back to 66-65, but Canbaz buried two free throws to seal the game.
The Cougars put three players in double digits scoring and two players had double digit makes from the free throw line. Avery led the way with a double-double of 21 points and 10 rebounds. Avery also finished 11 of 16 from the charity stripe.
Paulson finished the game with 18 points, including going 10 of 13 from the free throw line while also hitting two 3-pointers.
Canbaz also finished with 14 points while pulling down eight rebounds. Canbaz was 6 of 8 from the free throw line. The point guard also had a blocked shot.
Canbaz, Paulson and Sladjana Rakovic were honored before the game for their two years at WNCC. Canbaz said it was emotional knowing the Rakovic couldn't play in the last regular season home game.
"It was a little sad because Rako didn't get to play but I've loved playing with these two girls," the sophomore from Turkey said. "I can't believe that we are separating and going to different schools next year because they are like my sisters."
One good thing, though, the Cougars will some more games at home as they get set to host the Region IX tournament. The Region IX tournament first round opens up this weekend with six games. The winners of those six games will join WNCC and Western Wyoming Community College, who each received byes, into the 3-day tournament beginning March 9.
Canbaz said they have to continue to work hard and make shots.
"I think we need to continue to work hard and have really good practice days," she said. "We know that our best is good enough so we're going to continue to do that."
Gillette (21-8) 14 18 19 14 – 65
WNCC (25-4) 15 12 15 26 – 68
GILLETTE
Rickie Engesser 4, Dawnee Keckler 2, Angie Murmion 11, Julia Robarge 2, Shy'Tyra Powell 7, Brittany Richards 5, Zoe Richards 16, Azhane Buffard 9, Haley Urbatsch 9.
WNCC
Melisa Kadic 5, Jaleesa Avery 21, Kellie Gaston 2, Zeynep Canbaz 14, Bree Paulson 18, Anastacia Johnson 5, Giovanna Silva 3.