The Western Nebraska Community College women's basketball team held Eastern Wyoming to just two points in the final five minutes in earning the programs 13th Region IX title with a thrilling, come-from-behind win over Eastern Wyoming College 53-51 Saturday evening at Cougar Palace.
The win, which saw the Cougars trailing 49-42 in the fourth quarter, sends the 28-4 Cougars to the NJCAA National Tournament March 20-25 in Lubbock, Texas. The win was also the Cougars 16th straight.
"This is an indescribable feeling," sophomore Bree Paulson said. "We have been through so much this year and it feels great to come out on top tonight."
The Cougars trailed for much of the fourth quarter and with over five minutes to play, trailed 49-42 on five points from Emily Evans. Paulson said the defense stepped up when they needed to.
"Yes, defense was key to this entire win," Paulson said. "Our saying in the locker room for defense was guts and glory. It was up to us to get the job done and we did."
The Cougars captured three gutsy wins in the regional tournament, topping Northwest College in overtime on Thursday and then beating Gillette on Friday. EWC also had a nice run in the tournament topping Western Wyoming on Thursday and then getting by Trinidad in the semifinals.
EWC coach Tom Andersen said this game was a contest between two good teams and it is too bad that one team had to lose.
"A good hard battle and two great teams battled from the start to finish," he said. "It is unfortunate that one team has to lose a game like that, but you have to give the Cougars a lot of credit there in the last couple minutes. I am really proud of our team. They played their hearts out. We just came up a bucket short."
Andersen said the Lancers, who competed in the Region IX championship for the first time since 1979 when they won back-to-back titles, had a nice season.
"We struggled early in the year with some injuries and different things, but we really came together and peaked at the right time," he said. "We made a nice run through this tournament. We beat a great Western Wyoming team. We just lost to a good team today. You have to give them a lot of credit and hope they represent us well at nationals."
The Cougars meshed together at the right time to get the win. And at one time, there was some doubt in the minds of the Cougar players that this might be it, but they kept battling and it paid off in the end.
"Of course there's that doubt when you are losing but again we knew what it took and we knew we had to give it everything we have," Paulson said. "Coach told the team [in a timeout] to remember what we've been through. Work hard and do what we do best. He knew that we knew what to do, he just had to make sure we were all on the same page."
Paulson, who won a Colorado state title as a freshman at Legacy High School, said winning regionals is something that she will definitely enjoy.
"I won the state title my freshman year and made playoffs the other years [in Colorado]," she said. "But winning regionals here and now being able to compete at a national level is such an amazing feeling."
The Cougars finally got on the same page in a contest that was a battle. WNCC lead 11-10 after the opening quarter and but trailed at halftime 31-28 after Emily Evans hit seven straight points.
EWC pushed the lead to 41-34 in the third period before holding a 42-39 lead after three quarters.
The fourth quarter saw EWC get hot to move out to that 49-42 lead. After that, Anastacia Johnson jump-started the Cougars with a steal and a bucket. Paulson then hit a 3-pointer with 5:10 to play and Zeynep Canbaz hit a jumper to tie the game at 49 with four minutes to play.
Sladjana Rakovic put the Cougars ahead by two with a bucket with three minutes to play. EWC tied the game at 51-51 on a Sarah Bersang bucket. No one scored again until with 20 seconds to play when Giovanna Silva stole the ball and fed a streaking Johnson that was headed to the bucket for the lay-up and the lead. EWC had changes to score late, but the Cougars' defense shut down the attempted plays for the win or tie.
Silva, who didn't have one point but that crucial steal, said this was a team win.
"We are all excited and we worked hard for this," she said. "I didn't play that well but at the end of the game I picked my head up and stole that ball and I passed it to Anastacia and she finished it and that was the two points that won the game. We won as a team. We worked hard for it and excited to go to nationals."
Interim coach Chad Gibney said he couldn't be more proud of this team with what they have endured this season.
"They have gone through the adversity so well and they have done a tremendous job of embracing challenges," he said. "They have been challenged all year and become such a close net group. I can't say enough good things about them as they continued to respond through adversity when we were down by seven."
Gibney said he is excited for this team as they get to play and practice another day.
"We just kept saying just give us one more day," he said. "Just give me one more day to coach you and for you to play together. Just give us one more day. That is all we have been focused on. We will celebrate tonight and worry about nationals tomorrow."
WNCC finished with four players in double figures. Jaleesa Avery led the way with 13 points and six rebounds, while the three sophomores Rakovic, Paulson, and Canbaz all had 12 points.
EWC had just one player in double figures. Evans led all scorers with 23 points, including three 3-pointers and five rebounds.
Pairings for the national tournament will be released later this week.
EWC 10 21 11 9 – 51
WNCC 11 17 11 14 – 53
EWC
Emily Evans 23, Sarah Bersang 7, Carna Prokic 7, Anna Perez 9, Jessica Rossi 1, Pamela Bethel 4.
WNCC
Sladjana Rakovic 12, Jaleesa Avery 13, Zeynep Canbaz 12, Bree Paulson 12, Anastacia Johnson 4.