It was the final contest before the semester break and the 10th-ranked Western Nebraska Community College women's basketball team wanted to end the first semester on a positive note and they did that, using a strong first half and then held off a LCCC second half rally to earn a 72-57 win.
It was the ninth straight win for the Cougars as they will be off until January 10 when they host Casper College. WNCC finished the first semester at 14-1.
WNCC sophomore Amani Brown said they played Ok, but they could have played better in the second half.
"I thought we played decent, but at times we weren't as focused," Brown said. "As a whole, we won the game and that's all that matters."
Both teams started slow in all four quarters. The opening quarter saw the score knotted at seven before WNCC went on a 13-0 run behind the play of Martrice Brooks, who had five points for a 20-7 lead. WNCC led 27-12 after one.
WNCC did not open the second quarter strong as they held a 31-12 lead and then went scoreless for the next three minutes as LCCC cut the lead to 31-18. The Cougars picked it up late, leading 47-25 at halftime.
"The first half we were more aware and wanted to win the game," Brown said. "The second half we weren't as locked in and the game got away from us a little bit."
Any ideal of a blowout win was erased in the second half as LCCC outscored WNCC in both the third and fourth quarter. LCCC outscored the Cougars 14-13 in the third and the Golden Eagles trailed 60-39 after three.
The fourth quarter saw the Golden Eagles cut the lead to 13 at 60-37 and later went on a 7-0 to come within seven, 64-57 with four minutes to play. WNCC held LCCC scoreless the rest of the half as Ale'Jah Douglas had a big 3-pointers and then a steal for two easy points for the 72-57 win.
WNCC had just two in double figures as Douglas had 20 points while Brown finished with 15.
Both teams shot similar. The Cougars shot 50 percent in the first half and just 30 percent in the second half for 40.3 percent. WNCC buried just five treys on the night, led by two each from Douglas and Brown.
LCCC shot 35 percent in the first half and 45 percent in the second half for 41.2 percent.
LCCC did out-rebound the Cougars 38-34. Brooks had seven boards to lead the Cougars while Payton Fields and Brown each had five.
WNCC, who is leading the nation in scoring, will be off until January 10 and 11 when Casper and Central Wyoming come to Cougar Palace.
The nearly four weeks off will be something the Brown said the players need to stay in shape as they aim to make another run at the national tournament during the holiday break.
"We need to make sure we hold ourselves accountable and not let ourselves out of shape," Brown said.
LCCC 12 13 14 18 – 57
WNCC (14-1) 27 20 13 12 – 72
WNCC
Ale'Jah Douglas 20, Yara Garcia 1, Amani Brown 15, Aminata Zie 5, Breanna Fowler 2, Martrice Brooks 7, Shanti Henry 3, Ashley Panhem 4, Payton Fields 7, Shayane Poirot 1, Isabelle Cook 7.
LCCC
Riley Van Tassell 6, Ariadna Bleda 5, Kian Omer-Jones 7, Nikola Kuzmanovic 10, Halle Hester 12, Laia Balcells 4, Sam Hester 4, Monique Marcetic-Vaotangi 9.