CASPER, Wyo -- The Western Nebraska Community College women's basketball team shot just 30 percent for the game in watching their 8-game win streak come to an end by falling to Casper College 82-67 Monday evening in Casper, Wyoming.

                The loss drops the Cougars to 15-3 on the season. It was the Cougars fourth game in five days after winning three games Thursday, Friday, and Saturday last week.

                The difference in the contest was Casper's start and finish. The Thunderbirds ran off a 15-0 run in the first quarter to lead the Cougars 21-4 after one period.

                The next two quarters was better for the Cougars, outscoring Casper in the second and third period. WNCC outscored Casper 21-16 in the second half to slice the halftime lead to 37-25. The third period saw the Cougars come out ready to play, outscoring Casper 23-22 in the period. The Cougars, in the third, cut the lead to 42-35 on five straight points by Melisa Kadic.

                The Cougars sliced the lead to 53-48 on a Karli Seay trey, only to watch Casper get back-to-back old-fashioned 3-point players to lead 59-48 after 24 minutes of play.

                WNCC kept fighting, cutting the lead to 64-59 on a Giovanna Silva bucket. It was after that things turned south with Casper outscoring the Cougars 16-2 over the next five minutes for an 80-61 lead.

                WNCC shot 31 percent from the field compared to 46 percent for Casper. WNCC had just four 3-pointers and were 21 of 28 from the free throw line, while Casper buried eight 3-pointers and were 22 of 29 from the charity stripe.

                Rebounding also went the way of the Thunderbirds, 49-39. Emily Robertson led the T-birds with 12 boards. Robertson also had a unusual triple-double, tallying 18 points and making 12 of 15 free throws.

                Casper had just two players in double figures in the win. Lucie Hoskova led the team with 19 points.

                WNCC had three players in double figures. Seay led the way with 20 points, including going 9 of 9 from the charity stripe. Kadic followed with 14 points and eight rebounds, while Merle Wiehl had 11 points.

                WNCC, 15-3, will be back in action this weekend when they travel to Otero Junior College on Friday and Lamar Community College on Saturday for Region IX South sub-region games.

WNCC (15-3)      4 21 23 19 – 67

Casper (14-2)     21 16 22 23 – 82

WNCC

Melisa Kadic 14, Merle Wiehl 11, Jaleesa Avery 3, Anastacia Johnson 6, Giovanna Silva 5, Sophie Agorakis 5, Olivia Wiberg 2, Karli Seay 20, Josie Perez 1.

CASPER

Bruna Vila Artigues 9, Paula Orenes 7, Ashlie Larson 5, Lucie Hoskova 19, Emily Robertson 18, Gulten Altunbulak 6, Caroline Rivera 3, Nerea Baena 2, Natalie Panufnik 8, Mya Jones 5.