Merle Wiehl and Jaleesa Avery combined for 43 points and the 22nd ranked Western Nebraska Community College women's basketball team extended their season into next week's regional tournament with an 87-55 win over McCook Community College Friday evening in the first-round of the Region IX tournament.
Wiehl poured in 22 points and Avery added 21 as the Cougars overcome early cold-shooting to streak past McCook, advancing to play Sheridan College next Thursday in the regional tournament in Casper, Wyoming. Sheridan topped Gillette College tonight 68-40 in a first-round contest.
The win was the Cougars 12th straight and pushes WNCC's record to 27-3 on the season.
WNCC head coach Chad Gibney said it was survive and advance on a night that his team didn't play what they are capable of.
"At this point every game is a good win," Gibney said. "Obviously there are things we need to get better at and address, which we will this next week in practice. All you mistakes are magnified when the basketball doesn't go in and you can't make shots."
WNCC and McCook were tied at 13-13 after one quarter and the Indians held a 20-17 lead in the second quarter. That was when the Cougars opened up the offense and applied the defense, outscoring McCook 22-6 the rest of the second quarter for a 39-26 halftime lead.
Gibney said once they woke up, they played alright, especially in the second half where the Cougars outscored McCook 48-29.
"We didn't shoot the ball well tonight at all," he said. "But that happens so that is why we always taking about hanging our hats on defense and rebounding. I thought we defended pretty well in the half court tonight. Our full court defense wasn't as great as I would liked it to be, but at the end of the day any win in tournament time is good."
Shooting wasn't the best in the game by either team. WNCC shot 42 percent from the field, but was just 36 percent in the first quarter. WNCC's shooting woes came from beyond the arc, where they finished the game just 3-of-16 and the three makes came on the last three shots of the game. Melissa Kadic buried two treys and Josie Perez had one.
WNCC's defense still was strong, holding McCook to just 35 percent shooting. McCook was just 3-of-8 from beyond the arc.
Gibney said when they struggle in one area, they make it up in other ways. That is what happened Friday night.
"We really struggled in shooting the ball tonight," he said. "Luckily we found other ways to make things happen and get some baskets in transition."
Most of McCook's points, too, came from the free throw line. The Indians were 20 of 27 from the charity stripe, while WNCC was just 8 of 15.
While the shooting percentages weren't the best, the varied scoring was. Wiehl finished the game with 22 points while pulling down five rebounds, dishing off four assists, and getting five steals. Avery tallied 21 points with three rebounds, two assists, and two steals.
Kadic was the only other Cougar in double digits, tallying 12 points.
WNCC also got eight points and eight rebounds from Giovanna Silva, seven points from Perez, five points each from Olivia Wiberg and Karli Seay.
McCook was lead in scoring from Sam Hinkle with a double-double of 15 points and 10 rebounds. Brook Jamison and Gabby Enloe each had 14.
Gibney said his team needs to play better next week at the regional tournament if they want to defend their Region IX title.
"Obviously we will have to make more shots," he said. "But we will need to do a better job in our full court press and do a better job of limiting their second opportunities, and if we clean some of those areas up, we will have a chance to make a run."
McCook 13 13 13 16 – 55
WNCC (27-3) 13 26 24 24 – 87
MCCOOK
Julianna Rosado 4, Sam Hinkle 15, Brook Jamison 14, Grace Wellman 5, Gabby Enloe 14, Moneshya Green 3.
WNCC
Melisa Kadic 12, Merle Wiehl 22, Jaleesa Avery 21, Sophie Agorakis 3, Olivia Wibert 5, Karli Seay 5, Josie Perez 7, Anastacia Johnson 4, Giovanna Silva 8.