The 8th-ranked Western Nebraska Community College women's basketball team held Lamar Community College to just five first-quarter points as the Cougar women rolled to an 84-48 South Sub-region win Friday at Cougar Palace.
The Cougars never trailed in picking up their 18th win of the season as they move to 2-0 in conference play.
WNCC will have another conference game Saturday when they host Northeastern Junior College with a 2 p.m. tip-off.
Rashaan Smith, who tallied 10 points and had three blocks, said the team played well in the win.
"I think we played really good and we played as a team," Smith said. "I think our shooting was a bit off, but we brought it back late to score."
The defense was a big reason the Cougar women got the win Friday night. WNCC held Lamar to single digits in the first and third quarter and held a 21-5 lead after the first 10 minutes and a commanding 45-20 lead at halftime.
"Our defense was really good today," Smith said. "We played well as a team and we need to work on communicating a little more. But, I think our defense was pretty solid tonight."
The first half saw the Cougars open the game as Shanti Henry buried a 3-pointer. WNCC raced to a 9-0 lead before Lamar scored their first point with 5:32 left in the opening quarter. WNCC led 22-5 after the opening 10 minutes.
The second was a little more offense on both team, but WNCC still outscored Lamar 24-15. The Cougars led 26-5 on a Shayane Poirot 3-pointer and pushed the lead to 37-9 on five straight points from Henry. A few plays later, Scottsbluff's Yara Garcia got in the scoreboard with a big 3-pointer to make it 39-15. WNCC led 45-20 at halftime.
After halftime, the Cougars outscored Lamar 21-7 in the third quarter as they opened the third with 13 straight points to lead 53-20. After a Lamar bucket, the Cougars went on a 9-0 run to lead 62-22. WNCC led 66-23 after three periods.
The fourth quarter saw Lamar outscore WNCC 21-18, but the Cougars were never threatened as everyone saw action and all but one player scored in the game.
The Cougars shot 39 percent from the field but were just 21 percent from behind the arc (7-of-34). The Cougar women's defense held Lamar to 26 percent shooting and 24 from behind the arc (5-of-21).
WNCC had three in double figures. Ale'Jah Douglas led the way with 17 points followed by 14 from Shanti Henry. Smith had 10 points. Aminata Zie led the team on the boards with 14 rebounds. Henry had four of the Cougars' seven 3-pointers.
The WNCC women will be back in action Saturday afternoon as they host Northeastern Junior College in a conference contest. The women's game tips off at 2 p.m.
Women's Game
Lamar 5 15 7 21 – 48
WNCC (18-1) 21 24 21 18 – 84
WNCC
Ale'Jah Douglas 17, Yara Garcia 3, Amani Brown 4, Aminata Zie 9, Breanna Fowler 2, Martrice Brooks 8, Shanti Henry 14, Ashley Panem 2, Payton Fields 4, Shayane Poirot 7, Isabelle Cook 2, Genet Mebratu 2, Rashaan Smith 10.
LAMAR
Thalia Guradiola 3, Jolee Ortiz 8, Althea Kara Angeles 14, Mai Le Waters 9, Emily Schumacher 4, Cristina Rojas 8, Alissa Hebberd 2.