GILLETTE, Wyo. – The Western Nebraska Community College women's basketball team used a strong second quarter in registering their ninth straight victory with a 69-40 win over Miles Community College to wrap up the Border Wars Classic in Gillette, Wyoming, Saturday afternoon.

                The Cougars move to 12-1 on the season as they get set to host Laramie County Community College on Thursday at 5 p.m. at Cougar Palace in the final game before the holiday break.

                WNCC win on Saturday to help them finish the 3-day Border Wars Classic with a 3-0 record, was a team effort as WNCC shot 39 percent from the field and connected on six 3-pointers. For the tournament, WNCC made 29 3-pointers.

                The Cougars trailed just once in the contest at 2-0 and led 9-4 on a Helena Kuck 3-pointer. The Cougars led 13-6 after buckets by Mackenzie Joseph and Ebere Egbirika. Miles came back to cut the deficit to 13-10, but Amiyah Donaldson buried a trey and the Cougars led 16-12 after one period.

                The second quarter was where the Cougar defense played lights out, holding the Pioneers to just six points. WNCC opened the quarter with five straight points and led 24-14 with five minutes to play on an Egbirika bucket. The Cougars finished off the half with six straight points as Mackenzie Joseph had a trey at the buzzer for the 32-18 halftime lead.

                The second half saw WNCC go up 43-21 on a Keyla Cervantes 3-pointer. Miles came back to outscore WNCC the rest of the quarter 9-4, but the Cougars still led 48-30 entering the final period.

                The Cougars quickly put the game away in the fourth as they went on a 6-0 run to lead 54-30 lead. The Cougars added even more as they scored three straight buckets including back-to-buck deuces from Donaldson for a 60-32 lead and never looked back for the 69-40 win.

                WNCC shot 39 percent in the game and had 39 rebounds. Donaldson led the Cougars with 23 points followed by 13 from Joseph and nine from Walker.

                After Thursday, the Cougars will be off for the holiday break and then return for a home contest on January 6 against Central Wyoming College.

Miles                    12 6 12 10 – 40
WNCC (12-1)    16 16 15 22 – 69
MILES
Reagan LaPlante 5, Lainey Smith 4, Brae Eneboe 14, Lora LaBrie 4, Jana Gargallo lk7, Hannah Wildner 6.
WNCC
Amiyah Donaldson 23, Helena Kuck 5, Faith Walker 9, Mackenzie Joseph 13, Ebere Egbirika 6, Keyla Cervantes 3, Laura Montiel 7, Jamie Caron 1, Kiley Smich 2.