CHEYENNE, Wyo. – The Western Nebraska Community College women's basketball team put three in double figures and put together a strong first half in topping Laramie County Community College 72-62 Monday evening at Cheyenne's Storey Gymnasium.
"In the start, we were making shots. Everyone was sharing the ball and people started to step up," freshman Faith Walker said. "It was a great win for all of us."
Walker added that the real reason they won is because "we stayed together as a team and players made some big-time shots at the end."
While WNCC controlled the contest for much of the game, it got close. When LCCC tied that game at 60, that was when Walker said they realized they have to learn to come out of the locker room after halftime stronger.
"We understand that teams are going to make runs, but we also understand what we need to do and that's to give it our all," Walker said. "We have to not rush the game and to go our own tempo."
The Cougars received 15 points from Jayla Owen, all from the 3-point arc in the win. Owen nailed her first 3-pointer to start the scoring for the Cougars and a 3-2 lead. The two teams were knotted at 5-5 before the Cougars went on a 13-5 run that included another trey from Owen and six straight points from Faith Walker for the 18-10 lead after the first quarter.
The second quarter saw Mackenzie Joseph start the scoring and then Owen hit her third triple for a 23-12 lead. LCCC cut the lead to eight at 23-15, but the Cougars scored 11 straight to lead 34-15 on 3-pointers by Owen and Yara Garcia. WNCC led at halftime 38-24.
The third quarter was back and forth for the first half as WNCC led 46-38. LCCC then scored nine straight to get to within single digits at 46-37 with 2:42 to play in the quarter. WNCC led 49-42 after 30 minutes of play.
WNCC had a slow start to the fourth quarter while the Golden Eagles were hot, taking their first lead of the game since the opening bucket of the contest with 5:27 to play. WNCC came back with three points to go up 60-57, but an old-fashioned 3-point play by LCCC tied the game at 60.
That was when WNCC heated up as they scored the next 12 points and held LCCC scoreless for nearly the last three minutes of the game. The run was started with a Joseph bucket followed by an Owen trey, her fifth of the game. WNCC led 72-60 before LCCC ended the game with two late free throws.
WNCC had three players in double digits. After Owen's 15 points, Walker and Joseph each had 11 points while Bre Fowler and Ola Duda each had nine points.
WNCC shot 42 percent from the field and buried seven 3-pointers. The Cougars were also 11-of-17 from the charity stripe.
LCCC shot 40 percent from the field and were just 4-of-14 from behind the arc. The Golden Eagles were 14-of-19 from the free throw line.
WNCC won the rebound battle 42-34. Joseph led the way with nine boards while Duda and Isono each had seven.
WNCC will be back in action this weekend with two important South Sub-region contests when they host Otero College on Friday and then Trinidad State College on Saturday. Friday's contest, which is also Alumni Night, will tip off at 5:30 p.m. while Saturday's contest will begin at 2 p.m.
Walker said the team knows how important these games are this weekend in their bid to win the South Sub-region and host the Region IX tournament the first weekend in March.
"The key is coming out strong," Walker said. "We need to understand that teams will make runs but our runs have to be bigger. We also have to come out strong in the third quarter no matter how big our lead is."
WNCC (15-8) 18 20 11 23 – 72
LCCC (16-7) 10 14 18 20 – 62
WNCC
Jayla Owen 15, Mackenzie Joseph 11, Faith Walker 11, Bre Fowler 9, Ola Duda 9, Yara Garcia 6, Rashaan Smith 6, Shiho Isono 5.
LCCC
Jamy de Kock 12, Monique Marcetic-Vaotangi 10, Lylah Spring 20, Shannon Niles 4, Halle Hester 7, Mattie Jones 2, Tyra Lovelock 1, Andraya Dimas 6.