Story courtesy of Dave Brunz
Scottsbluff Star-Herald Sports Writer
The Western Nebraska Community College women's basketball team used a strong first half to turn back Eastern Wyoming College 74-64 on Saturday night at Cougar Palace in Scottsbluff.
The win is WNCC's 12th of the season and fifth straight leading into the holiday break. EWC, which falls to 8-5 on the season, travels to Casper on Tuesday.
Sophomore center Giovanna Silva, who finished with 16 points and nine rebounds in the win, said that the rivalry between the two teams is always a good game and the Cougars wanted to notch one more win before the Christmas break.
"It was a pretty tough win. We knew they were going to come at us hard," she said. "Playing against EWC is always a good game because they play us tough. EWC is our rival and we all wanted to win. It was the last game before break and we wanted to go to break with a good feeling of winning."
The Cougars trailed 7-6 early in the contest until sophomore Olivia Wiberg drilled a 3-pointer that sparked a 12-0 run highlighted by six points from Anastacia Johnson. The trey was the first of four by Wiberg in the game, giving WNCC an 18-7 lead in the game. Wiberg connected on her second 3-pointer with less than a minute to play in the first frame, but a bucket from EWC's Nicole Cutler and a shot at the buzzer by Pamela Bethel cut the Cougar lead to 21-13 heading into the second quarter.
WNCC controlled the second quarter, led by two more triples from Wiberg, and held the Lancers to just six points in the frame and a 35-19 lead at half.
EWC head coach Tom Andersen said the fast start by WNCC in the first half was tough to overcome, but was pleased with his squad's effort in the second half.
"I think they jumped on us in the first half pretty good and we made some adjustments at halftime and played a lot better in the second half," he said. "But every time they needed a big shot it seemed like they got one whether it was a three or inside. They're a good ball team. I give our kids credit for playing back, but we can't get that far down to a good team like that."
The Lancers found a spark in the second half from guard Abril Rexach Roure. Roure, who scored just seven points in the first half, hit for a trio of buckets sparking a 13-0 run for the Lancers to cut the lead to five, 43-38. However, WNCC finished the quarter on a 9-2 run to preserve a 54-40 lead with one quarter left to play.
In the final period, EWC chipped away at the Cougar lead and pulled within four points, 66-62, on a 3-pointer from Roure at the 2:05 mark of the final frame. Silva, though, answered with a bucket and was followed up by a basket from Merle Wiehl to extend the lead to 70-62 with just a minute left to play.
Although Gibney was happy with the win, he felt his team didn't match the effort it showed in a 78-73 win over Casper on Tuesday.
"We lacked that edge that we saw Tuesday (against Casper) which made us so successful," he said. "I think at that point it just comes down to the players having to figure it out. (EWC) made some plays and you have to give them credit, but I think we should have never been in that position."
The Lancers finished the night shooting 43 percent from the field and Andersen felt that needed to be higher with WNCC playing so well in the paint.
"We didn't shoot the ball very well at all, especially from the 3-point line, and that's something we have to do because we don't have enough size to consistently go inside," he said. "(Pamela) Bethel had a nice game in the second half, but we need to have a few more people contribute to scoring."
WNCC had the edge on the boards, pulling down 46 rebounds to EWC's 36. The Cougars also had the edge in the turnover department with 14 to the Lancers' 19 in the contest.
EWC finished 3-for-14 from the arc for 21.4 percent, and was 13 of 18 percent from the stripe for 72 percent.
EWC was paced by Roure, who led all scorers with 29 points in the loss. Bethel added 18 points and eight rebounds, while O'Connell finished with nine points and seven rebounds.
WNCC was 29 of 73 from the field for 39.7 percent, but finished 9-for-22 from the arc for 41 percent. Additionally, WNCC was 7 of 10 from the line for 70 percent.
Johnson finished the night with 19 points, six rebounds, four steals and four assists. Wiehl finished with a double-double of 12 points and 11 rebounds, while Wiberg added 12 points with four 3-pointers.
EWC (8-5) 13 6 21 24 — 64
WNCC (12-2) 21 14 19 20 — 74
EWC
Abril Rexach Roure 29, Imes Sadat Margarit 4, Macie Mackey 2, Lauren O'Connell 9, Nicole Cutler 2, Pamela Bethel 18.
WNCC
Melisa Kadich 8, Merle Wiehl 12, Jaleesa Avery 4, Olivia Wiberg 12, Karli Seay 1, Eva Langton 2, Anastacia Johnson 19, Giovanna Silva 16.