LAMAR, Colo. – The Western Nebraska Community College women's basketball team put four in double figures and held Lamar Community College to just four third-quarter points in picking up the 76-45 South Sub-region win Monday night in Lamar, Colorado.
The win moves the Cougars to 16-3 on the season and stopped a 2-game losing skid.
The win was more important since it was the opening of the conference games and the Cougars are now 1-0 in the South Sub-Region with two home sub-region games this weekend when they host Trinidad State on Friday and Otero College Saturday afternoon.
Adelina Urtane, who had a double-double with 13 points and 19 rebounds, said the win was the little things that they did.
"The keys for the game were the little things which are important, togetherness, and controlling the tempo," Urtane said.
Urtane said they didn't play as well as they did in the second half, especially the third quarter where they out-scored Lamar 16-4.
"In my opinion, the first half wasn't our best and we could have played better," she said. "We played way better in the second half, more as a team, shared the ball, and cheered for each other. That is how we got the lead and won the game."
WNCC started slow falling behind 8-4 to Lamar in the first quarter. WNCC took an 11-8 lead but only led 16-13 after the first 10 minutes.
The Cougars started the second quarter with seven straight points to lead 23-13 after a 3-pointer by Gal-La Font and a bucket from Urtane. Lamar added five points to cut the Cougar lead to 23-18, but WNCC responded on a 12-4 run to lead 36-22 and led 39-25 at halftime.
It was the second half that saw the Cougars explode and the third quarter was the key. WNCC scored the first eight points behind a triple from Helena Kuck and buckets by Amiyah Donaldson and Mackenzie Joseph for a 47-25 lead. WNCC led 52-27 before Lamar hit their first and only field goal of the third quarter with 3:20 to play. Font closed out the third with a 3-pointer.
WNCC was just as tough in the final 10 minutes as they went up 67-32 on back-to-back Laura Montiel buckets and a Kuck triple. Moments later, Montiel had two more buckets along with a Jamie Caron field goal for a 74-41 and never looked back.
WNCC made seven 3-pointers, including three from Kuck and two from Font. Lamar only made two 3-pointers.
The Cougars were also 21-of-29 from the free throw line while Lamar was 11-of-16.
WNCC won the rebounding game 47-19. Urtane had 19 boards followed by six each from Keyla Cervantes and Font.
WNCC had 11 players hit the scoring column. Urtane led the way with 13 points followed by Montiel with 12 and Ebere Egbirika with 11. Kuck had nine while Cervantes and Font each had six.
Urtane said the team will rest up on Tuesday and get back to work to get ready for key weekend home games.
"We will rest tomorrow (Tuesday) and get recovery so we can be fresh for our next two games over the weekend," she said. "Overall, as a team, we have to listen to coach and be mentally and physically ready for the next game. Every win is important for us, but this was a good game to start the conference game marathon."
WNCC (16-3) 16 23 16 21 – 76
Lamar (2-13) 13 12 4 16 – 45
WNCC
Amiyah Donaldson 5, Ebere Egbirika 11, Keyla Cervantes 6, Helena Kuck 9, Gal-La Font 6, Laura Montiel 12, Jamie Caron 5, Kiley Smich 3, Mackenzie Joseph 5, Adelina Urtane 13, Trinity Walker 2.