The Western Nebraska Community College women's basketball team nailed 11 3-pointers and held the Colorado State Club team to just two, fourth-quarter points in posting an 87-33 win in the season opener Wednesday at Cougar Palace.
The Cougars had five players in double figures in the win, led by freshman Helena Kuck who had 15 points and four 3-pointers.
Also collecting double digits in scoring included Jamie Caron, Faith Walker, and Mackenzie Joseph each with 11 points, and Amiyah Donaldson with 10 points.
WNCC head coach Isaac Lu was impressed with how his team played in the second half after having some first-half butterflies.
"For the first game of the year, I believe there were a little bit of nerves to get going," Lu said. "But once we settled in we started to become more decisive offensively and settled down defensively. I thought we put together a really nice second half. It is nice to see everyone get in the scoring column for us. We shared the ball well. We ran the floor hard. We played well together. It was a good first win."
It was a good win to get a game under their belt before they head up to Riverton, Wyoming, for a classic on Friday and Saturday when they will face Gillette College and Central Wyoming College.
"We are looking forward to playing this weekend in Central Wyoming," Lu said. "There will be two tough games and we will have to play against one team that is big and physical and we will have to defend the post and then another team that plays really, really hard and has good guards.
What stood out in the Cougars win was how all 11 players that saw action contributed in some positive way on the court. All 11 scored and all 11 got a rebound.
The first quarter was close early on as WNCC held a 16-7 lead after a bucket by Caron and two free throws by Gal-La Font. Colorado State Club cut the lead to 16-10, but the Cougars scored the final six points to lead 22-10 after one quarter.
The second quarter saw WNCC jump out to a 29-10 lead on buckets by Kiley Smich, Kuck, and Keyla Cervantes. WNCC finished off the quarter on back-to-back 3-pointers from Joseph and Adelina Urtane for a 38-22 lead at halftime.
The second half was all WNCC as the Cougars jumped to a 46-24 lead in the third and pushed the lead to 45-27. WNCC closed out the third quarter with three 3-pointers from Cervantes and two from Kuck to lead 66-31 after three.
The fourth quarter saw WNCC outscore the Rams 21-2 to get the win.
CSU Club 10 12 9 2 – 33
WNCC 22 16 28 21 – 87
CSU Club
Mia Turchi 2, Carlie Elwood 5, Susie McCormick 11, Hannah Hurro 7, Lola Kuehn 2, Mia Chavez 5, Maelle Gace 1.
WNCC
Amiyah Donaldson 10, Helena Kuck 15, Gal-La Font 4, Faith Walker 11, Mackenzie Joseph 11, Keyla Cervantes 9, Laura Montiel 8, Jamie Caron 11, Kiley Smich 3, Adelina Urtane 5.